


Re:α Phenomenon

by finalfanaticgorm, Typereg



Category: Gormiti (Cartoon 2008)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama & Romance, Gen, Multi, Other, Teenage Drama
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-29
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2020-03-27 16:16:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 46,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19016407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/finalfanaticgorm/pseuds/finalfanaticgorm, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Typereg/pseuds/Typereg
Summary: It's been 4 years since the crew defeated Magor. They start their second year in high school, seemingly enjoying their normal lives not worrying about unnatural disasters or evil spells but Magor won't let these kids off the hook that easily. With new powers, new stronger villains and secrets yet to be known the crew will be put to the test with this new phenomenon!





	1. 6AM every saturday morning led to this

Jessica suddenly jerks out of her slumber.

Scarce images remain in her mind. A heavy sigh escapes the blonde's lips. Crawling off the mattress, she ambles towards her closet opposite her bed. She opens the closet door with a long outward push as her eyes are directed to the solid case neatly hidden on the brim of the closet. This box is small in size yet strong, protecting whatever is inside like a knight. The blonde bends down to caress the sliver padlock. A wall that shields whatever is instead from the outside world.

Well, except her. She knows the code.

Lost in thought the blonde continues to caress the lock before bellowing a sigh. Taking a huge gulp of air the blond lightly slaps her cheeks.

"Time to move on Jess," she quietly iterates to herself.

With newfound energy the blonde shuts the closet with a short swoop and begins to gather necessary essentials to prepare herself for school. Towel, hairbrush, toothbrush oh and she almost forgot. What is she going to wear today? Racing to her closet once more she eyes her endless hoard of clothing. As she rampages through her closet the box that has been clogging her thoughts from moments ago has completely dissipated into thin air.

* * *

A loud clinging rang through the school signalling the end of first period. Jessica wakes from her daze as the students clutter towards the door. Passively, Jessica places her books into her new forever 21 bag, a faux leather rectangular cross body she received for her 16th birthday last year. Gina, her best friend had bought it for her. She slings her bag onto her shoulder and heads towards the door.

One fact to be known about Jessica is that she absolutely hates history. Though she tries she can't seem to stay awake during a history lecture. Thankfully, Mr. O Brian hadn't noticed her falling asleep or either he had and just gave up waking the girl. That was a still a mystery Jessica hadn't figured out.

Still recovering from the lecture Jessica didn't process a large but fairly slim looking man passing right in front the door. To late to form a reaction Jess bumps right into the man's left shoulder. The blonde staggers a few steps back to regain her balance. "Oof...shoot. I'm sorry."

The man chuckles at the blonde's feathery apology. "Hehe... that's just like you Jess, you're always spacing out." As Jessica takes in her surrounding, she realized who this person is.

"Mark! What are you doing here?" Mark Tuan, Jessica's boyfriend for the past year and a half, ruffles her hair with big gentle hands. He's fairly tall with the blue eyed girl's head reaching his chest. With choppy short hazel hair and forest brown eyes the male sports a long sleeved white sweatshirt with two black trips on the sleeves and camo cargo pants - the ones Jessica bought for him last week.

"To pick you up silly. We were going to eat together? At the cafeteria?"

"We could've just met there you know." Jessica states as she softly removes Mark's hand from her head. Jessica liked Mark's hand though she never admitted it to his face. They were gentle yet corse with the endless guitar lessons he takes after school.

Mark took this opportunity to link their hands together, clasping his hand over the blonde's. "And why wouldn't I want to see my beloved's beautiful face right away?" Mark gushes as they walk towards the cafeteria.

"Didn't I tell you to stop with the complements?" the blonde snaps at him sporting a blush and turning to face the opposite direction, away from Mark. At this, the said man bellows a rich deep laugh not doing any favours for the red-face blonde.

"Oh come on already!" releasing their hands Jessica crosses her arms and puffs her face. Mark's laughs increases till he's unable to contain himself and bends towards the floor, hands on stomach failing to stifle his laugh.

"Hehe..sorry Jess..it's just..you look so cute right now." Mark reassures between laughs. Jessica still not letting up her displeasure refuses to look at Mark.

"Aw come on Jess. I said I was sorry. Look, lunch is on me. Order whatever you want." Mark locks his arm around Jessica's neck. Relentingly, Jessica sighs and agrees on Mark's offer.

"Whatever I want?" Jess asks curiously.

"Whatever you want." Mark reaffirms.

Jessica gives a quaint smile as the couple continue towards the cafeteria. Though pleased the blonde couldn't help but feel the sense that someone was watching them.

"Ya know , Jess? You didn't have to order that much." the Korean-American quakes from his seat, gawking at the blonde.

"You said I could get whatever I wanted and I did just that." Jessica smiles as she wilds down her fifth flap jack. There is one thing about Jessica Herlyns that is known to everyone. This girls loves to eat. Mark chuckles nervously as he stares down at his own emptied tray then back at the girl's.

"I see Jess is at it again." Gina calls out from across the table strolling alongside May, Serena, Cyrus and Ivan all of which were Jessica's friends. They all sat down at their table much to Mark's displeasure. When Jessica catches on to Mark's frown she places a reassuring hand on his arm.

"Next time we'll eat outside." she whispers after gives a wink. This lifts Mark's mood just a smidgen but at least Jessica was trying to help and that was enough for him.

"Uugh! The love birds are at it again." That came from Ivan as he fakes gagging at the romantic display.

"Shut up Ivan!" May swats at the Ivan, startling the boy. "Hey maybe we should leave?" May suggests to the group.

Mark rises from his sit, shocking Jessica and the rest of the crew.

"No wait! Guys, it's okay. You can sit hear. It's fine."

The whole table laughs. Even Jessica lets out a chuckle at Mark's reaction.

Ivan ambles towards Mark and lazily slaps his back in a half apology half reassuring manner. "Hey. Dude. Chill. It was sarcasm."

"That wasn't sarcasm you dunce." Cyrus corrects him, looking rather annoyed at Ivan's misused of the word. The whole table laughs again, this time including Mark.

The group continues the banter for the duration of the break. Ivan cracking the occasionally joke here and there. Mark and Cyrus chatting about their guitar lessons while the girls gush over Jessica's forever 21 bag and discuss about the Echo nightclub they'll be attending next week, down to the tickets and shopping for their outfits for the day. Serena whips out her iphone 4, proceeding to flip through screenshots of dresses she had in mind for the dance. The girls give their opinions with the guys chipping in as Cyrus claims he's an expert in fashion. Jessica absentmindedly stares at the images just being content with hanging around her friends and boyfriend. Nothing can ruin this, right?

Wrong.

A burst of liquid hits the table. The girls jerk with shock, leeping out of their chairs. Mark swiftly places an arm in front of Jessica. The blonde gives Mark a reassuring smile as if she was saying thank you. Assuring her friends were all right, the blonde's blue eyes scan the perimeter for the culprit. It didn't take long for her to find them since they practically revealed themself to the dissonant group. Jessica visibly grimaced. Placing a hand on her temple as if she had a headache.

"Shit...My bad. I guess the can just... kinda burst open?"

"T-Toby..."

Oh Jess was so going to chew Toby out on this one.

* * *

"What the hell was that about?" Jessica slams the door of her locker, replaying the little _'accident'_ Toby pulled in the morning. Or more like a stunt, considering Toby's character. It's the afternoon and classes have ended for the day. As for Jessica's day? She could feel her temple about to crack. The hallways were somewhat empty with a few students roaming around. Some had went home while others stayed for club activities. And Jessica? While her original plans were to go hang out with her friends she's now stuck with the so called blonde dimwit (or so she calls him).

" Hey, it was just a little accident. You know those cans can get really out of hand."

Frankly, Jessica has had enough. Having known Toby for most of her childhood she knows that wasn't a _"little accident"_. Not only did he ruin her morning with her friends but he had the gall to think that his lame excuse would work on her? Now that got her blood boiling. She may be a natural blonde but she wasn't dumb.

"Oh shut the hell up Toby. I know you did that on purpose. For heavens sake, you know you shouldn't use your powers out in the open!"

"What are you? My mom?"

If she could the blonde would've chocked the boy right there and then. After retrieving their orbs back from Magor the gang hasn't heard back from Razzle or the Old Sage nor has there been any unusual natural disasters for quite some time now. Jessica has taken this as on opportunity to return to a normal life. It's been four years and the fair blonde wasn't going to dwell on Gorm for the rest of her life. She moved on like the rest of the gang, well, besides Toby which was evident as he wouldn't leave her alone.

"Anyways..." Toby swiftly moves his arms to the back of his head taking a lazy stance he leans back on the lockers. He stares absentmindedly into space, not focusing on a particular image. "If I'm gonna have these powers might as well use 'em."

"Then go use them somewhere else. Far away from me." Jessica huffs.

"Ouch, that hurts."

"I'm serious."

"But-"

"Dead serious."

Toby was always like this. Between her, Nick and Lucas he'd go out of his way to annoy her the most. Even more so now that their roles as Lords of Nature were over.

An awkward silence ensues. The outside sounds of the other students becomes abundantly clearer with each passing second. The footsteps, the chatter heck even the ticking of the clock is getting louder. Jessica glances at Toby, his glaze still focused straight ahead.

"You know..." Toby commences with his voice taking a more thoughtful approach. "We haven't really hung out in a while, you know...all four of us."

Jessica grimaces. It wasn't that she was completely ignoring them. She does occasionally talk to the others though not as frequently as before, she'll admit that. Despite such, Jessica is still in good terms with them. She does feel remorseful that it appears that she ditched them for Mark and the crew but isn't that part of life? Things change. People grow. All of them have different wants in life, new things they want to pursue. Jessica doesn't want to be tied down anymore and god she wished Toby would at least try to understand this.

"Sigh...Toby we're all busy. School's gotten a lot tougher in the last four years and frankly we don't have time to play 'hero' anymore." Jessica moves to pick up her bag. Hauling said bag onto her shoulder she gives Toby one last stern look. The female blonde wasn't going to entertain him any longer so better late then never to embed this into his thick skull right now.

"Gorm doesn't need us anymore Toby. It's time to move on."

Giving him an apologetic smile she waves him off.

* * *

Bored, Nick stares blankly at sheet of paper in front of him. Written on the sheet were suggestions to the student council. Now Nick wasn't part of the student council (he didn't get enough votes. Maybe he shouldn't have applied for president but people can dream?) but he stuck around to help his friend or at least he'd hope she would consider him a friend. A really close friend. And said hopefully close friend sits at the teacher's desk typing away at the chunky computer plugged in to wall right behind her. This girl is Kagami Sugawara, the one he lost to during the student council campaign. Nick is a pretty competitive guy but if he had to lose to anyone it had to be Kagami. As you tell by her name she is of Japanese descent but she had moved to Venture Falls 2 years ago to live with her grandfather who currently run a small restaurant, Shinzuku.

The light from the window hits Kagami's frame. The shadows dance around her pitch black, hair accentuating her round face. Brown eyes scan the screen, following the rhythm of her long delicate fingers as they type. Completely mesmerised in her work, her determination to anything is quite overwhelming even influencing others to give it their all too, clearly deserving of her role as student council president. The rest of the committee members had other business to attend to (as always) thus leaving Kagami alone. Nick didn't mind, in fact he was thankful. It was just the two of them. Nick walks over to Kagami, sheet in hand, as if he's in a trance.

"Hey Kagami, I did what you asked." the male teen chirps, handing over the sheet to Kagami. With a smile, Kagami takes the sheet and scans through it. Her eyes light up.

"Nick, these suggestions are brilliant!"

Proud at having his hard work acknowledged, he smiles back at Kagami. "Hehe...I choose based on budget, efficiency, distance from the campus and overall appeal to the student body. Oh! And the likelyhood of getting approval from the heads. I made sure all of them had at less over 70% chance of getting approved. "

"Wow...you even separated them based on topics too." Kagami continues the read the sheet. Though her face is stern she gives a nod here and there showing Nick her approval of his work.

" A class float-building contest? That'd be great to promote class unity. You've even made suggestions for the next year. Nick you're a genius! " Nick couldn't help but blush at Kagami's compliments.

"Speaking of the report, how's it going?" Nick leans closer to Kagami's side.

"I'd say it's 66% completed. Just a few more words to write, add in your suggestions and a re-read then I'll be done." Kagami explains though her expression changes as she delves deeper into her thoughts. "I might check up on it with you when I get to the proof reading stage though, if you have time that is. " she quaintly ponders to herself out loud, observing Nick for his response. And boy did he give her a response.

"Of course I'll always have time for you." the bespeckled teen proudly states, that is until his brain processed what exactly he said while Kagami's eye's widen. She blinks a few times in obvious confusion, a faint blush apparent on her face.

_'Shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit'_

Nick thanked the heavens Kagami couldn't hear his thoughts. Was that too cliche? Did Kagami think it was cliche? Or was that romantic? Or creepy? Or both?The nearsighted teen ranks his brain to search for the perfect comeback. Kagami's bewildered stare didn't help much either, or at all to be matter of fact.

"Um...Nick? Are you okay?" Kagami asks with her blush still intact.

Time to get back into reality.

"W-w-what I mean is that uh I have a lot of free time lately...Yeah! That's it! With no major assignments and all, I mean we've only still in our first semester and exams are still months away and..uh...yeah! You know? I can make time for you..i-is what i'm trying to say?" Oh how he wishes to smack himself silly for that.

A chuckle escapes Kagami's lips. He's safe, praise the orbs. After her little laughing fit Kagami hoists herself off her sit. Her eyes break contact with Nick's , directing it's view to his sheet on the table. The black-haired teen looks solemn but with a ting of sadness placet on her features. "Thanks, but I know you've been neglecting the Archeology club and other club activities to help me."

Well shit, he just made her feel bad. Before he could go on another tangent Kagami speaks up. "I feel like I've involved you in my mess you know? We haven't had a proper student council meeting in a month and I'm stuck with all of the work. Without your help I probably would've pulled an all nighter by now."

Though Nick did enjoy the solitude of them two working together Kagami did have a point. The Student council wasn't a job meant for two people. Admittedly Nick wouldn't mind if the rest of peanut gallery just upped and quit, leaving Kagami and himself to handle the work. Realistically, they'd be replaced but in an ideal world? It'd just be the two of them, a blessing Nick cherished for the past month.

It wasn't as if they'd never hang out again if they other members return. Kagami's part of his club and they did share a few classes together thus having more opportunities for them to meet outside of the council. Yet that didn't matter to Nick. The time he spent alone together with Kagami were precious to him. The glasses-wearing teen couldn't really pin point why but he felt a sense of belonging around Kagami. It was as if he was talking to his other self, a lost half. Someone who he could truly be himself around. Someone who would accept him, though he'd never admit this to the said girl. Obviously, he'd be against the return of the council but Nick isn't like that. If Kagami wishes so he'd do anything in his power to help.

"I'm doing this on my own volition. You don't have to worry about me." he steps closer to Kagami and puts a reassuring hand of her shoulder. "I've got your back Kagami, we'll fix this together."

The corners of Kagami's mouth start to rise as she grants Nick an earnest smile , truly appreciating him being with her. "Thank you Nick." she chimes as she places her hand on top his hand on her shoulder.

They stay like that for a few seconds but for Nick? It felt like an eternity. The teen swore he could hear his heat beat every millisecond, his palms sweating at the site of this beautiful goddess right before him. Did he mention his palms are sweating? He hopes Kagami doesn't notice.

Wishing this moment would last an actual eternity he doesn't register the knock on the door."Hello? Is anybody there? I was told the student council would be here." With that Nick's intimate moment with Kagami came to a close as the girls spins around towards the voice, breaking the contact between them.

"Oh yes we're here" Kagami replies. The stranger opens the door to reveal himself.

"Lucas?" Nick exclaims.

"Nick? You're here too? Since when were you part of the council?" Lucas was and still is Nick best bro but damn did he ruin his moment.

"He's just helping out while the others are away. So what's up?" Kagami chimes in, preventing Nick from answering Lucas' question.

Turning his attention away from Nick he explains to Kagami the situation. "It's about the Scarlet Oak protest. I'm just checking to see if the buses are ready for Saturday morning."

"Scarlet Oak protest?" the two student council members say in unison.

"Uh...you two don't know about the Scarlet Oak protest? I'm pretty sure I've mention this to the student council before." As a response, the two in question shook their heads. Both were completely dumbfound. Nick knew about the Scarlet Oak , heck ,everyone in Venture Falls knows about it! But a protest? Now that crossed the teen's mind completely. So did Kagami's given her reaction.

"You must know about the Scarlet Oak. The National Tree of Venture Falls? It's been here since the founding of this place. "

"And what does this have to do with a protest?" Nick inquires.

"The officials are planning to chop it down! Something about building a new facility in it's place. We can't let this happen! That tree is a national monume - " Before Lucas could continue on with his tyrant Kagami interrupts with a facepalm, shocking both boys as a huge echo envelops the room. The bespectacled teen was quick to hurry to Kagami's side. Lucas stays put, still in shock by that harsh slap.

"You okay Kagami? That was a hard slap." Nick voices as he inspects the girl's face. Said girl could only reply with an "ow" confirming that slap indeed hurt. Despite the fact that she had bangs, Nick could still make out red hand-shaped mark on her forehand. Lucas stays silent, concerned but also making a mental note not to piss her off.

Reminded the girl was in pain the boy spoke up. "Uh..do you need an ice pack or something?"

Kagami faces Lucas in surprised. She fixes her bangs. "No, no I'm okay it's just that I've forgotten about that."

Kagami removes her hand from her bangs and proceeds to scratch her chin. She gives an awkward smile, clearly taken aback with what happened earlier. "Jenny was in charge of the fundings for the trip."

"Jenny?" Lucas voices in confusion.

"Student Council treasurer." Nick answers matter of fact.

" Sorry Lucas. I'll call Jenny immediately after I get home. I'll definitely get back to you tomorrow I promise." Kagami bows down to Lucas, back completely straight with her eyes pointing directly to the floor. This visibly startling the boy as he jumps. Nick shakes his head at the display. Kagami always does that when she feels at fault.

"Woah! It's cool. " Lucas gently puts his hands on Kagami's shoulders and hoists her up so they're face to face. Nick grimaces but Lucas doesn't notice. "The protest is in two weeks anyways. You'll have enough time to figure it out. Don't sweat it."

"But still.." Before Kagami could finish her sentence a long outward growl rings from her stomach. The two boys laugh. Kagami couldn't help but join in on the laughter as well.

"I guess I've been busy all afternoon I forgot I was hungry." the girl says in the mist of their laughter.

"That means you gotta eat! Let's go out for some grub together. Nick you up for it? "

"You bet. I'm feeling hungry myself."

Kagami chimes in. "We'll go to my place! My grandfather owns a restaurant. My treat."

* * *

"Don't worry Kagami, I've got the fundings all sorted out. I'll send the details to Ms. McGuck tomorrow."

" And about the student council -"

"Oh yeah about that. The rest are MIA at the moment but us two can meet up tomorrow if ya want?"

" Sigh...Thanks Jen. I really appreciate it."

"No prob Kagami. Good night."

Jenny hangs up the phone and Kagami leans back on her chair. A large sigh escapes the teen's lips, feeling a wave of confort wash over her. She finally made some sort of progress with the reunion of the student council. Even if she could only get a hold of one member that was more than enough. Plus Lucas's protest is a-okay to commence which leaves less on her plate.

After her little brunch with the boys and saying their goodbyes Kagami went straight to her room to complete her tasks. Kagami was never the type to leave things to last minute. Her mind wanders to the event that happened just a couple of hours of ago with the boys and a smile perks up on her face.

_Once they've arrived, they were greeted by Kagami's grandfather, Takahashi Ono. Of course being the granddaughter of the owner the group's order was intended to be free yet Lucas insisted he paid. After a short argument, the group received a 25% discount, that was the least Takahashi could do._

_Since this was Lucas' first time trying a japanese dish the elder suggested they try the sashimi. Nick has visited the restaurant before, sometimes with Toby, the entire Tripp family or by himself. Kagami still remembers the first time the Tripp family arrived to Shinzuku. It was opening day and they were one of their very first customers._

_Though Kagami didn't want to admit it, it was quite hilarious seeing Lucas struggle with his chop sticks. Kagami and her grandfather where willing to help though their efforts where futile and the elder had work to attend to at the kitchen thus Kagami was left to aid the struggling Lucas. Nick enjoyed his meal and who shot a shit eating grin towards Lucas which didn't help the teen one bit. Eventually Lucas had enough and just stabbed a chopstick into a slice of fish and proceeded to eat that way for the duration of the meal._

The girl quickly scans her brain for any other important tasks she had missed out on. Unlike many others she doesn't depend on a notepad to write what needs to but done rather she'd have a mental notepad. Less paper wasted. Plus her thoughts are way too fast for her fingers to keep up with and considers it pretty good exercise for her brain.

"Lets see, the funds, student council, homework and the report...Ha! the report!" Kagami scooches closer to her computer screen to check on her report. She'd already completed it. That was the second thing to do on her list. She inserts her usb stick into the computer slot and opens the file. Slowly but surely the girl rereads her work for the fifth time, checking for spelling errors, grammar the usual stuff your english teachers would look out for in essays. When the girl felt somewhat satisfied she finally sent it out to Nick via email. With that the teen emerges out of her desk and slumps onto her bed. Too bad she couldn't rest for long as she hears a knock on the door not a moment after . The door opens, revealing a man in his earlier 30s. He had unkept messy black hair and a short goatee.

" **Shujin! What are you doing here?** " the teen asks.

The man, Shujin Akatsuki, is the head chief of Shinzuku. Kagami's grandfather had met him back in Japan and recruited him to work in Venture Falls. Shujin always expressed wanting to broaden his horizons and travel so he took the opportunity. He currently lives with Kagami and her grandfather in the meantime.

**"Ojii-san is out on a business meeting. He told me to tell you he'll be late."** Shujin replies.

**"And what's with the tray?"** Kagami inquires as she eyes the tray of japanese candy he's holding.

Shujin walks into the room and places the tray on her desk. **"I've made them in my spare time. You don't eat much so I wanted to give them to you."**

**"Well I'm not hungry"** Kagami plops onto her bed in response. Shujin continues to scold her.

**"Hey, you shouldn't be skipping meals! Baka."** The older man lighting flicks Kagami's head, seemingly trying to get his point across. Shujin could be a pain in the neck but they've only known each other for 2 years and he's somewhat became a second parental figure to her, more so than her actual parents. They were so busy with work they'd hardly care whether she skipped her meals.

**"Hey, what's this?"** Shujin's eye drift towards the hardcover book beside the tray. It appears old. The rim was torn off and the pages where a shade a yellow. The cover is decorated with intricate patterns looking like something straight out of a fairy tale. Shujin couldn't help but feel drawn to the book. He scoots closer, arms reaching towards that hardback cover and gently caresses it. If he was some sort of artist nerd he'd be all over these designs.

Kagami seeming to catch on to Shujin's question hoists herself up again and looks towards the direction of the book. **"That book? Ojii-san gave it to me as a kid. I've kept it with me ever since."**

Letting his curiosity get the better of him Shujin opens the book, though with a hint of gentleness as to not further damage it. Landing on a random page his eyes perk up with bewilderment at what he saw. Text written in english and images of strange creatures interlaced in between. He scans through the book. **"Gorm? Gormiti?** **Is this some kind of storybook?** "

**"Well kinda. Ojii-san would tell me stories about this place called Gorm. And those strange creatures are called Gormiti.** "

Shujin continues to scan through the book. To his knowledge this book isn't a storybook, it's more of an encyclopedia of some kind.

"Whoever came up with this fictional world must've been a genius." Or a complete lunatic he'd dare say himself.

Kagami nods her head in agreement. **"Those stories are very important to me so I guess I have to thank whoever created them."**

**"Wait so Ojii-san didn't write this?"** Shujin exclaims **.**

**"Nope, he said someone from his childhood told him these stories and gave him that book."**

Shujin thought he knew everything about Takahashi. He was almost like a father and a friend, a very close friend but this was the first time hearing about some rando telling him weird children stories.

**"Mind telling me one?"** Shujin asks.

**"Sure! I'll tell you my favourite."** Kagami takes the book and flips the pages till she lands on a specific page. This page didn't have any text, just a drawing a five symbols. **"It's about the five lords of nature."**


	3. Dramamaramamaramama hey!

"Yo Toby you gotta take this seriously! She might not look like it but she's really flipping out."

Though pre-planned maybe Lucas shouldn't have went with Toby to the movies. Toby really needs to focus on his presentation for Kagami's sake. At least he's trying to get through to the boy but his efforts are proving futile.

"Hey dude check out that arcade out there!" Before Toby could even move Lucas grabs hold of his collar. Talking to him doesn't seem to work. Time to get physical. Toby's back pocket vibrates, startling the two boys. Lucas lets go so Toby could grab his phone. He had unlocked it when the credits rolled.

The blonde's eyes shoot wide open in shock.

"The fuck?"

Lucas moves closer to see what startled the blonde. Right there on the screen were 17 missed phone calls from an unknown number, 7 from Nick and 20 unread messages. Lucas didn't have to second guess the identity of the unknown caller. "I wasn't kidding when I said she was flipping out over this."

Toby groans out loud. Being the so-called lazy shithead he is he obvious doesn't want to be paired up with Kagami. Toby opens up the messenger app. No surprise all 20 unread messages were from Kagami.

_Hey Toby. In case you don't know me I'm Kagami Sugawara. Student council president. You know , the girl that transferred 2 years ago? We're in the same biology class. Just to let you know Ms Mc Guck paired us up for a class assignment. If you're available can we meet after school? I have a student council meeting so it'll only be 5 minutes._

That was the first message. Toby skims through the rest of the texts. They became more and more depressing with Kagami explaining her idea for assignment to Toby in huge paragraphs. Did she think he'd actually thoroughly read through all of this, let alone understand what she's talking about? He hadn't been paying attention nor attending class for a while. Most of these terms went over his head. He finally scrolls to the final text and the boy scowls.

_Look, I get it. You don't want to pair up with me nor do you want to work on this assignment. Fine. You don't have to do anything. Just don't get in my way okay? :)_

Toby turns to Lucas who side-eyes him.

"Hey! She said I didn't have to do anything!" Toby retaliates. Damn, first Jess now Lucas? All his friends are now turning on him.

"Nuh Uh bro, I ain't letting you get away with this while she slaves herself away to get an A."

Toby gives Lucas a look. Why is he treating him like a child? Of course Ms. Mc Guck had to pair him up with the "queen" of the school. She obviously did that on purpose to get back at him. Toby's phone vibrates again. Exasperated, the boy peeks at his phone.

"Kagami again?" Lucas asks.

"Nope." This time it was a text from Nick. Thankfully it wasn't a big fat wall of text but the message did ring clear to the boys.

_You're dead._

Toby slumps to the ground and groans. Jess, Lucas, Nick. All of them were going for his head. Lucas rubs his back as if he had a change of heart. Like Toby would believe that. He wouldn't stop berating him when they met after school. Too late for that bro.

"Look, I gotta go meet Gina for our assignment. You better pull your weight! I wouldn't want to piss her off if I was you." With that Lucas left the prankster boy.

Toby strolls around the mall for a bit, debating whether to go home or not. If he did go back he'd have to face the wrath of Nick, something he didn't think he'd have to experience. Or worse, his parents. Nick totally told them he skipped biology. That snitch. Thinking of hitting the arcade for a while, well until the trains stop for the day (in spite of not wanting to face his parents at least that's better than being homeless.) the boy spots a familiar looking person. "Is that Jessica?" the blonde thinks out loud to himself. He threads cautiously towards the girl outside the clothing store to confirm his suspicion. The girl was slouching on the window with a dozen bags surrounding her. Yep that's definitely Jess. He spots a guy walking towards the girl. Mark motherfucking Tuan. Toby ducks to a nearby tree.

They both seem to be laughing at something. Toby couldn't make out what, with the noise from passerbyers and the distance. She kisses Mark on the cheek before setting out somewhere. Toby follows suit. He isn't stalking her or anything, just needs something to lighten up his mood and Jessica is the perfect target.

* * *

Mark and Jessica head into Starbucks for a coffee break. They've been shopping for over 2 hours already and though Mark didn't want to admit it his arms were getting tired. While a bit overcrowded they were lucky enough to snag a seat for each other. Mark orders an iced shaken green tea lemonade. Jessica being the glutton of the two orders two carrot cakes and a pumpkin spice latte. The couple chat for a bit though Jessica does bring up the Toby-Kagami situation.

"Damn with Toby? Really?" Mark exclaims. Jessica nods in reply. Mark leans back in his seat. "Wouldn't want to be in Kagami's shoes then. The pressure must be high to get an A."

Jessica traces the outline of her latte. Thinking back on what happened in class this morning the girl feels bad for Kagami. She feels even more shittier for refusing to pair up with Toby in her stead. Jessica isn't too stressed about grades but Kagami? She wouldn't know how the teen would react to not getting an A. Or worse, a D. She'd hide her disappointment for sure but on the inside? Kagami's too nice to be subjected to Toby. She should've done more to help her. Jessica snaps out of her thoughts with Mark's hand on hers.

"Hey, are you okay?" he inquires in worry.

"Hmhm..." Jessica replies with another nod, clearly not too convincing to Mark. The brunette rubs her palm attempting to cheer the girl up. "It isn't your fault you know? The fact that you care is more than enough for anyone Jess."

Jessica tries to give Mark a genuine smile, still upset but appreciates Mark trying to lift the mood. The couple breaks contact as Mark emerges from his seat.

"I need to take a piss but I don't want to leave you here feeling like utter shit I'm giving you this to hold on to." Mark stuffs his hand into his back pocket and pulls out a guitar pick with a rainbow feather attached to it. He gives it to Jessica but not before giving her a quick peck on the lips.

"This is my lucky charm. I look at it when I feel bad. You can hold onto it when I get back." He shoots a wink before leaving, disappearing into the crowd. Jessica stares at the pick, fiddling with the feather as a blush is apparent on her cheeks. "Gosh, what a loser." she thinks out loud to herself. But he's her loser. Jessica continues to eye the pick until someone sits in the seat in front of her.

"You're ba..." Jessica's face contorts into utter disgust at the person before her. Toby. Lord, if you could hear this poor girl what did she do to deserve this?

"Oh gurl, was that smooth AF or what?" Toby says with his best valley girl impression. Jessica doesn't reply. Toby raises an eyebrow. He wasn't expecting a non-reaction.

Wrong.

The girl leaps off her seat, latte in hand ready to dose this fucker. Fortunately (or unfortunately in her case) Toby has faster reflexes and stops Jessica.

"Woah Woah Woah! We don't want to cause a scene now do we?" It takes a second but Jessica calms down and returns to her seat arms crossed. Toby quickly retracts. "I'm the Lord of the Water so that would've been futile anyways." Jessica aims for the latte again. Toby raises his hands in defence. "Sorry!Sorry!"

Having calmed down for a second time Jessica lays her hand on her temple. "What do you want?" she asks slowly, trying to keep her temper in check.

"What? So I can't hang out with my friend once in a while?" Toby says while playing with Mark's drink. It's not that Jessica doesn't see Toby as a friend but damn if he keeps this up the line between friend and annoying pest is really thinning out. She just wants to go home this point.

"You're in my seat."

Praise the orbs Mark is here! Finally she can leave. "Mark forget it we're going." For the final time Jessica stands from her seat, gathering her belongings ready to leave. Mark places a hand on her shoulder signalling her to stop. She looks up at him and freezes. That comfortable, approachable energy from Mark is long gone now. He had a stern look on his face, body completely rigid. This isn't going to end well.

"No Jessica. He's been bothering you for months. This has gotta end right now."

In response, Toby gets up from his (well Mark's) seat. His expression says it all. He's enjoying this situation, testing Mark to see how far he'll go. Now Mark isn't a fighter but he is taller than Toby and he could probably land a good hit on him. Even with Toby's judo skills, he wouldn't leave without a bruise if the situation continues to escalate.

Jessica should've stayed home.

"Toby, I have nothing against you but Jessica doesn't want you annoying her anymore. Can't you just leave her alone?"

Toby mockingly closes his eyes and crosses his arms in thought. "Maybe. But I need something in return."

Jessica eyes practically roll to the back of her head. She could feel her headache returning too. "Mark, lets just go!"

Mark completely ignores Jessica, replying to the jokester instead. "So you want a challenge huh?"

Said jokester, seemingly getting what he wanted replies. "Yep! If you win I'll leave Jessica alone. But if I win? Hmmm..."

Jessica wishes to crawl up into a ball and die. Mark isn't stupid. He should clearly see that Toby is just baiting him for his own twisted entertainment. That's pretty obvious whether you spend your whole childhood with Toby or just a day. It's best to leave situations like this. Toby snaps his fingers, having come up with a fitting punishment for Mark if he loses. "If I win, you'll have to do my homework for a week!" Mark please say no.

"Deal."

If Mark wasn't her boyfriend, that latte would've went right into his face. Both men treating her like some object? Nuh uh fam, Jessica doesn't do that shit. Boyfriend or not, Jessica is so gonna call Mark out on this right here, right now.

"Mark! What the fuck?" the girl exclaims. She looks straight at Mark, making her point clear as glass. She is pissed. Given Mark's perplexed expression, she's gotten her message across. Good.

"W-w-wait w-what? Jess, why are you angry?" Mark asks hurt apparent in his voice. Did Jessica care? Nope. None of that cutesy couple stuff is going to work on her.

"No! Fuck this! Abso-fucking-lutely not. I don't need two idiots fighting for me! It's ridiculous! Let's just go home!" Jessica is too busy flipping out over Mark's sexism she doesn't notice Toby taking all this in. The boy is clearly enjoying this. Audibly laughing at the discourse between the couple. Oh but Mark definitely notices. And more than ever the Korean-American wants to sock the daylights out of him.

"But Jess! If I..." oh wrong word buddy.

"I?" Jessica repeats.

Mark sighs. "If _we_ don't do something about this he'll never leave you alone."

Jessica raises an eyebrow at Mark out right refusing to talk to him at this point. Mark sighs again. If only Toby would shut up, he'd be able to handle this conflict more easily. "Look Jess I'm sorry but please let me do this for once. Just for myself okay?"

Jessica rubs her temples in order to think before replying. "Fuck it. Fine. But I'm not happy about this at all!" Jessica huffs, finally relenting to this stupid challenge. At least afterwards she could go home. Hopefully.

* * *

The group of three wander around the mall searching for the so-called challenge to Jessica's freedom. The supposed lovely evening she spent with her boyfriend turned into her fumbling and struggling to carry all these shopping bags (should've listened to Gina to hold back) while the two stooges chat energetically to each other. Suddenly she's the one butting in on their budding relationship . The girl never expected this to happen but anything goes when Toby's around. God, she feels like such a third wheel. The blonde would've left the two by now (they don't even acknowledge her existence anymore!) but most of her anger has dispatched and it'd be cruel to leave Mark alone, even with his new "buddy" Toby.

"There! Lets hit the arcade!" Toby says amicably pointing at said arcade like an 8 year old child. Mark nods in agreement as they race towards the entrance leaving Jessica behind with her bags. Scratch that, she's more of a mother than a third wheel. She knows she was probably a bit to harsh to Mark (but he deserved it anyways) but at least as her boyfriend he could've helped her with the bags. The blonde takes a breather before tagging along with the boys.

Once the boys enter the arcade their faces light up with newfound energy, ready to one up each other. Were they really doing this for Jessica? Seems more like a long lasting feud between them.

"There!" Mark points at a video game cabinet at the corner of the arcade.

Toby scoffs. "Dance Dance Revolution? You serious?"

"What? You scared you'll embarrass yourself with a silly arcade game?"

Everyone knows Mark can dance. The video of him pwning Nick in a dance off at the school dance 2 years ago practically blew up on social media. Nick couldn't show his face to the public for days. But Dance Dance Revolution isn't about how well you can dance, Toby knows that. It's mostly about following the rhythm, hitting those combos and having high stamina. The prankster blonde doesn't play rhythm games but with his fast reflexes and being fairly athletic he'll give Mark a tough time.

"You're on."

Both boys step up onto the dance platform. Mark places his lemonade down on the platform before doing the honours and takes out a few coins from his wallet and places them into the slot. A prompt from the screen displays the option for one player or two players. Mark chooses the two player option. "Should we start with beginner? I mean you are a beginner?"

Toby felt his pride was on the line. It shouldn't be that hard right?

"Ha! You think I can't keep up with you?" Toby probes, eyeing the boy contemplating if he'll take him up on the challenge.

Mark puts his hands up in defeat, trying to add distance between the two. "Okay I'll do difficult. I ain't too groovy on expert myself."

Mark selects the difficulty and proceeds to scroll through the music playlist. Toby removes his jacket and stretches. He may seem playful from time to time but now? He's serious about beating Mark. Said boy looks behind him to Jessica, seeking some emotional support from the girl. His confident attitude takes a hit when he notices the girl on her phone, totally uninterested. That put a smile on Toby's face.

The count down starts and the boys get in position. Regaining his fallen confidence, Mark cracks his knuckles.

5,

"No hard feelings if you lose?" Toby asks.

4 ,

3,

"I should be asking you the same thing." Mark states with a smirk.

2,

1.

Music Start!

Both boys' feet start flying. Holding on to the handle bars for dear life , their eyes are completely glued to the screen. Mark choose a partially hard song too. Slimy bastard. For a beginner Toby's doing fairly well. His reflexes weren't a joke. Mark's breathing fastens but Toby's doing okay. Still able to follow the rhythm without exerting himself too much. Without their acknowledgement, a small crowd starts to form as both pass the 50 combo mark. Heck, Jessica couldn't help but pay a bit more attention to their game.

"Hey Anchor check this out!" one girl who appears to be in her twenties shouts out from across the room.

"Flamma! You don't have to drag me!" the man named Anchor calls back.

The couple were able to get to front of the dance off given the crowd. They stand next to Jessica, Anchor looks ahead intrigued with the battle but Flamma? The girl squeals in delight, raising her hands to her cheeks, legitimately jumping as the boys dance into exhaustion.

"SO COOOOL!" Flamma sings igniting the cheers from the crowd. Some were rooting for "the asian-looking kid" while others were rooting for "the blonde". Jessica rolls her eyes. Still pissed she has to admit Toby is doing good for a beginner. It isn't in her nature but she's impressed. Despite that she still believes Mark's going to win. He's super into DDR and they've been to the arcade a few times to play. Sorry Toby.

"They're both hit the 100 combo!" one guy states.

With the adrenaline rush gone the fatigue hits Toby like a ton of bricks. The teen sweats profusely. He has no time to wipe the sweat from his brows. One wrong move and he's done but his legs are aching badly. ' _Perfect' 'Perfect' 'Perfect' 'Good'_. Damn! He almost missed the last note. Even his concentration is waning with the fatigue. The teen just wants to rest. How long is this bloody song? He takes a short glance a Mark. He's smiling.

'Prove them wrong. Prove them wrong.' Toby chants in his head. That'll give him the motive to last just a little longer.

"OOoOOoooh the blonde one isn't doing too good." Flamma states having calmed down from her high.

"Yeah, I can see that." Jessica says solemnly. It's weird but for some reason Jessica low key wants Toby to beat Mark.

"Though both have kept their combos going the blonde one's score is significantly lower than the brunette's." Anchor chimes in. Jessica leans in trying to get a good look at the screen for the scores. As Anchor said, Mark's score is way above Toby. Though both have retained their combos, Mark's _'Perfect'_ points are way above Toby's who's mostly been getting by with _'Good'_ points.

A wave of fatigue hits the blonde again but he strives through. His legs are literally on fire. Any moment now and he'll loses movement of his feet. He hears the crowd. He knows Mark is beating him. He doesn't need to look at the boy's screen to know. Damn that bastard!

'Prove them wrong. Prove them wrong. Prove them wro-'

_Miss_

The crowd goes wild.

"HIS COMBO! HE F'ED HIS COMBO!" "The Asian's still going!" "There's no way the blonde's gonna win now." The crowd grows and gets louder and louder with every second.

"Dayuumn your boyfriend's losing." Flamma comments as she peers towards Jessica.

"Toby..." Jessica pleads quietly to herself not registering what Flamma said.

_Miss, Miss, Good, Perfect, Bad, Perfect, Miss._

"DAMMIT!" Toby curses out loud. He's been doing fine until now. Since he's screwed his combo he's been missing a lot of notes. It's the point of no return for him. Mark's got the win. Having acknowledged this Mark faces away from screen, free styling the rest of the song. You thought the crowd was crazy then? It's a full on rave now. Even the staff were wilding out to Mark's sick moves.

"HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT!" someone from the crowd sinks to ground, mind shattered as Mark does the impossible.

"How is he maintaining his combo without looking at the screen?" Flamma asks mesmerised by Mark's dancing.

"It's obvious. He's played this song before hasn't he?" Anchor proposes glancing at Jessica for an answer.

"Yeah..." Jessica mutters. Mark's an avid fan of DDR. He's played this song a million times. Toby lost the minute he agreed to play. Yeah, Toby's been an annoying mosquito bite but damn, Jessica couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Mark does a backflip and lands on the arrows right on time. _Perfect!_ The crowd loses it's mind once again. Toby's still going but no matter what he does he's going to lose. _Miss, Perfect, Bad, Bad, Bad_.

"Fuck!" he curses under his breathe. He should've known he couldn't beat Mark. Now that bastard is gonna hold this over his head till he's on his death bed. He eyes the floor, prepared for defeat until he spots the lemonade.

Lemonade. Water.

If Toby's gonna lose might as well make Mark the laughing stoke of the evening. Forgetting the screen, the stupid challenge, Mark and his stupid moves, the crowd , everything. Just focusing on the lemonade. Just a little nudge is all he needs. As if becoming one with the lemonade, he could feel it. He swerves to the top of the cup, just a little closer and it'll all be over, the crowd , the noise, all of it. Wait. What's this? A massive surge of energy slams into the boy's head. Way too much information! It's as if his whole body contains the entire world's water. It's too much! His body is about to burst open. Heck, he's brain about to explode! The information, the sensation, it's too much.

Toby slouches down, hands to his head, writhing in pain.

"TOBY!"

"J-jess..." Toby groans barely audible given the pain coursing through his body. Jessica runs to the platform.

"Oh god! Toby! Please be okay!"

Mark and a few staff members rush to the boy's aid .The rest of the staff try clearing out the crowd, giving the group the space needed to figure out what to do.

"We need to call an ambulance asap." another staff member, a woman, says.

"Toby...Toby.." Jessica iterates over again.

Mark combs his hair in frustration. What the hell is he suppose to do? Toby's having a seizure and Jessica's spazzing out. Should he comfort her? The boy's too hesitant to even try. Jessica's been pretty on the fence about all of this and last thing the couple needs is for her to burst a blood vessel. A staff member calls 911 as the crowd thins. The lemonade cup tips over soaking Mark's kaki pants but the boy doesn't care. What matters most is that Toby gets the medical attention he needs.

Damn, he really should've listened to Jessica and went home.

Admist the chaos Mark couldn't help but feel something's off. Maybe it's the magnitude of the situation getting to him but he swears that the ground's trembling.

"Do you feel that?" Mark says to a near by staff member.

He pauses before replying. "Wait...Don't tell me. An earthquake?"

BAM!

The vending machine near the cabinet explodes. Glass shards fly everywhere with a few plastic bottles following suite as a huge pool of liquid flows out of the damaged machine. The whole arcade is driven to madness. Some rush to the door while others rip out their phones to record. Is this really the time?

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH"

Mark follows the direction of the loud pitched scream only to discover a water bottle spinning out of control flooding the floor and anyone foolish enough to get close before stopping. He really needed to get out of here but he couldn't leave Jessica or Toby behind. As if matters couldn't get any worse the sprinklers go off. Queue more screams from the populace. Somehow Mark found himself in some weird horror movie and right now he'd like to leave before he goes insane.

Jessica!

Mark dashes back to the platform, making his way back to Jessica and the hoard of staff members. Jessica violently shakes the blonde boy as the staff members try to pry her away.

"Toby get a hold of yourself! You gotta snap out of it!" Jessica shouts as the staff successfully pull her away from Toby.

"J-jessica?" Toby mumbles having stopped his spazzing session. He isn't completely 100% though. He's on all fours and is breathing heavily from exhaustion that doesn't seem to be from their dance battle. With the staff in shock it, Jessica speeds to Toby's side once again.

"Toby! What the hell? You had me worried!" Jessica exclaims. Though pissed there is a tinge of happiness in her voice. Toby breaks out a strained smile , surprising the staff even more.

"Haha...It's my greatest masterpiece." the boy forces out before collapsing into Jessica's arms.

The sprinklers stop too.

"He's unconscious!" another staff member shouts out. Mark stands there utterly dumbfounded. Attempting to piece together what exactly went on the brunette feels his head is about to explode.

A random stranger runs past Mark towards his group of friends. " Guys...you won't fucking believe this! The mall is like totally flooded."

Yep, that confirms it. Mark somehow stumbled into a horror movie.


	4. Came for the drama stayed for the plot

After the huge fiasco that went down in the arcade, the paramedics arrived at the scene. Toby with Jessica and Mark were driven to the hospital via ambulance. Luckily, no one was harmed and the firefighters alongside the Venture Falls evacuation department escorted everyone to safety. Though nobody knows what caused the incident it would still be the scope of the town given the news department arrival to the incident.

Through all the craze both Flamma and Anchor were able to return to Venture falls though not unscattered. Despite the fact that it had been roughly 4 hours since the event at the arcade they were still soaking wet and Flamma hated every second of it. To ease her suffering (honestly, Anchor didn't think it was that bad) they decided hit Shinzuku for a quick snack.

"You know, if you continue to eat like that you'll get sick." Anchor states having not touched his sashimi.

"Come on Anchor! Can a girl eat? Seriously, I've never tasted anything like this in my life!" Flamma says as she crams down a fish piece. After finishing her dish she stares at Anchor's full plate. She gives a sneaky grin as she carefully pokes her chopstick into his sashimi. Oh, that sweet-savoury scrumptious sashimi. Like a drug, the girl couldn't get enough. She catches Anchor's expression fetching for permission to go all out on his dish. He's as deadpan as ever.

"Sigh...just take it already." Anchor remarks, sliding the dish towards Flamma. Taking the opportunity, the girl gobbles down the dish, leaving nothing left on his plate. Not even a stain. Anchor rolls his eyes.

"Come on Anchor!" Flamma states, leaning into the man as she pokes his cheek with her chopstick. "We'll never have a chance like this again! You gotta enjoy life's delicacies!"

Before Anchor could tell Flamma to stop, one of the restaurant's waitresses shows up to their table. "Um, excuse me, I'm afraid I have to ask you to leave. We're closing soon." Talk about being saved by the bell. The twosome proceeds to pack their things and head out, apparently fully dry.

"Sooooo...where to next?" Flamma probes, skipping around the promenade.

"Home." Anchor replies in his usual monotone voice.

Flamma scowls. "You're no fun."

"We're not here to have fun." Flamma gives Anchor the 'I'm so done with you' look. The taller of the two walks her off. "So you got what we need?"

Flamma stops and places her hands on her hips. "Really? Is that how you treat a girl on a date?"

"Flamma."

The girl growls, slapping her bag in reply. Anchor pleased returns a nod while continuing to saunter along. The duo resumes in silence until they finally arrive at their destination. An old, small bookshop around the edge of town. Upon entering the building Anchor deposits his bag. Flamma stretches.

"Time to get to work." Anchor states walking to the storage room. Flamma sluggishly ambles behind him, dragging her purse, definitely rather be in her bed than work during the night. Once the duo enters the storage room, Anchor turns on the light switch and heads to one the desks. He pulls out a scroll and stations it on the roundtable at the middle of the room. Flamma perches onto a nearby stool. Anchor unveils the scroll revealing a map of Venture Falls.

"Are you 100% sure the missing piece of the orb is in this location?" Anchor asks.

"Ummhum! This thing was going crazy in there earlier! Honestly ruined the mood." Flamma unzips her bag exhibiting a dark, crystal pendulum. She closes her eyes in concentration. She chants a few incomprehensible words as the once dark pendulum glows a faint red. She dangles the crystal above the map. Glowing ever brighter the pendulum shift to a specific location on the map. Shinzuku.

"Told you so- ugh!" Flamma drops the pendulum and clutches her wrist in agony. Anchor wastes no time to rush to Flamma's aid.

"Show me your hand," he instructs.

Flamma gives him a strained look, attempting to cover her hand from him. "It's nothing...it'll wear out eventually."

Anchor having enough of Flamma's excuses roughly removes her hand. Her fingertips dyed in pitch black with nails growing sharper, so sharp that they could piece Anchor's flesh with any sudden movement. Dragon scales develop on her skin, her hand increasing in size as every second passes.

Anchor has seen worse but he couldn't help but stare in shock "The glamour! We need the book now!"

Before Anchor could run off Flamma grabs his shoulder. "NO! We can't! Vestalt specifically said we could only use that book in dire situations. We've already seen what it could do to you..."

"But your glamour..."

"It's fine. It's the middle of the night. Not like I'm planning to go out anyways." Flamma shrugs while giving a half-hearted smile.

Anchor scratches his head. He eyes Flamma for a bit, checking to see if she's some-what okay before returning to his seat. "Anyways, now that we know the location we need to deal with the lords of nature."

"Oh yeah, those guys. You do think they know about the orb?" Flamma asks having had the pain recede for a bit.

"I'm not sure, but from what we've seen earlier they sure are powerful."

"Really? Uh..was I the only one that saw that kid squirm in pain?"

"No, but we shouldn't underestimate them." Anchor rests his chin on his hands pondering for a bit. Yes, it's true that it does seem that kid did lose control of his powers and that could be a great benefit in completing their mission but staging an all-out attack would go against Vestal's teachings. They mustn't underestimate their enemies for a second or that'd lead to their downfall. It has already taken them this long to collect all the other pieces of the orb and Magor's been growing impatient with the wait. They must make sure their mission is a success, even if it means taking the longer route.

"Anyways, if we ever encounter them in our gormiti forms we going to need to come up with code names."

Flamma looks at Anchor, totally puzzled at his suggestion. Sometimes Anchor wished Flamma wasn't so slow. Heck, he's even surprised they got this far without her screwing up. "You do know you said my actual name in front of a lord of nature, right?"

Flamma scoffs and places her glamourless hand on her chest for dramatic effect. "Hey! You are so not throwing me under the bus right now! You said my name too!"

"But you said my name first."

Flamma points her glamoured finger at Anchor. She's been playing way too much Ace Attorney lately, not a surprise to Anchor. "AHA! You admit you screwed up too!"

Anchor visibly pouts. Him, screw up? Never. He'd never do that to Vestalt. "No, no. I did not screw up."

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"DID TOO!"

"NOT"

"TOO"

"NOT"

"NOT"

"TOO! Too?"

"HAHA, you admitted it again!" Flamma in the midst of her laughing fit slams her dragon-like fist onto the desk. The sheer force of her first breaks it in half with a loud thud.

...

"Oops?"

Anchor stares at the scene for a while attempting to process what happened before pacing about the room, rubbing his temples to relax. What the both of them didn't need is for him to transform into his gormiti form and wreak havoc. Vestal would be pissed if that ever happened.

Right at that moment, the door burst open revealing a rather short older woman, roughly around her 60's. Flamma and Anchor jump from shock and briefly eye each other. The duo scatters to each other's side kneeling down in front of the woman.

"Commander Vestalt!"

The old lady named Vestal glances at Anchor then to Fllamma and the collapsed table. She walks forward to Anchor and lifts his chin. "What did I say about formalities?"

The duo raises from the floor simultaneously looking sympathetic in front of their leader, Vestalt. "We're sorry, we let things get too out of hand."

Flamma raises an eyebrow towards him. Anchor apologizing for something is a rare sight to be seen, and only seen in front of the great commander herself. It would be nice if Anchor would apologize to her once in a while. Too busy daydreaming Flamma didn't register Vestal's stare.

"FLAMMA!"

'Shit' Flamma hasn't received a scolding from the commander for a while so of course, this is going to throw her off guard.

"Your arm! How did this happen?" Vestal steps closer to the girl inspecting her gormiti arm.

"Uh, I just used a tracking spell and then this happened."

Vestalt's caring tone swiftly changes to a more serious one. "Do I need to get the book?"

"No, it's fine. I'm sure the glamour will hold up for a while. You said it yourself we can only use it as a last option."

The tension rises as a long silence ensues. The duo didn't dare say a word, worried they might offend their leader.

Vestalt gives an exasperated sigh before bypassing the two taking a chair for herself. Said two exhale in relief.

"Never mind that, how is the mission going?"

Anchor straightens his posture having relaxed before answering. "Splendidly! We've located the final piece of the orb in this location." Anchor picks up the map from the floor thankfully intact given Flamma's fists and points to the restaurant.

Anchor continues - "We've yet to formulate a plan to retrieve it though."

Flamma huffs . Possessing her playful nature once more, she responds. "That's easy! We'll bust in and get the orb! But that means no more tasty sashimi..."

If the commander wasn't there, Anchor would've beaten his head on a nearby wall. Did Flamma not listen to their conversation before Vestalt arrived?

"Uh, Flamma, no. We will not do that. In fact, we are going to do the exact opposite." Flamma sulks as she slumps down onto a nearby seat.

Recovering the serious mood Anchor chimes in on the conversation. "So Commander do you have any ideas on how we will proceed?"

Vestalt rests her hand on her head in thought. "I don't know. But for right now we need more information on this place, Shinzuku. Then we can proceed with how to retrieve the piece."

Anchor's eyes light up and he bows down to Vestalt causing Flamma to stare at him in uncertainty. "Don't worry commander, Flamma and I will start our research right away."

"Wha?" Flamma states surprised.

Fortunately for her Vestalt stops Anchor by placing both her hands on his shoulders. "Right now both of you should rest. You will start your research tomorrow."

"But Magor- "

"Don't worry about him. I'll deal with Magor and _you_ will get some rest."

"Thank you, Commander." Anchor bows to Vestalt once more and heads to the door. Flamma follows suite but not before Vestalt grabs the back of her jacket stopping her dead on her tracks. What now?

"And Flamma you'll clean up this place before going to your room."

The girl slumps a little before responding back. "Y-yes Commander."

Of course Anchor has to be the favourite.


	5. Toby and the Wolves

_The hot blinding light scorches her skin till she feels nothing._

_"It's your turn now."_

_Burning brightly it completely engulfs her. There is no fear, no doubt, no pain._

_"Wait...you're..."_

_Cackling murderously, the bright burning inferno clouds her view. Where is she? What is she?_

_"I don't know anymore..."_

GASP!

Eyes bulging out of their sockets, with shallow breathes and drenched in sweat from head to toe Kagami awoke from her nightmare. She clutches her chest.

BADUMPBADUMBADUMBADUM

She gawks at her shaking hand attempting to calm her disorientated vision.

 ** _'It was just a dream, just a dream.'_** a mantra to relax her beating heart.

Kagami observes her surroundings, bringing her mind back to reality. That should ground herself.

**_'This isn't a nightmare. I'm in my room, in my house, with Shujin and Ojii-san. That's right. They're there.'_ **

Hand still over her chest, her heart returns to it's normal rhythm. Fully down from her scare, Kagami registers the bright light from the screen currently blinding her vision. Piecing all the pieces together the girl slumps to her seat with a groan. She must've fallen asleep while working on her project.

Her project she should be working on with Toby.

"Ugh..." If she had to choose she'd rather go back to her nightmare then even think about her assignment. She twists herself towards her bed, it's 2am in the morning and she of all people knows how important good sleep is. Shujin went off a tangent about this once and oh boy, was that a lecture she was not prepared for or ever wanted to experience for a second round.

But something catches her eye. A note, lying beside her Gorm book on her desk. Kagami's eyebrows furrow at the site.

_**'Okasan...'** _

Kagami faces the bed then back at the glimmering computer screen. She couldn't slack off. This is Ms McGuck we're talking about and her presentation has to be absolutely phenomenal. Yet she's been working on this all afternoon and very much rather go to sleep. Kagami clenches her fists. If only she hadn't have to do this ruddy assignment. If only her perfect A strike didn't exist. If only...

But she can't it. She'd be letting everyone down. Her family, the whole student body.

Nick.

She's the queen of the school after all. She can never let that go. If only...

 **"Sorry Shujin..."** She twists herself back to her compter and scoots closer, typing away till the sunlight kisses her skin.

* * *

9am with Ms McGuck and an assignment due means one thing.

Utter chaos.

The students that were present, which is most of class, have split off with their project partners. Even now, 9 bloody am in the morning, the students work on their assignment that wasn't even due in a week. Kemi silently sobs in the background whilst Miki tries her darnest to cheer the girl up. Chris sips on his fifth cup of coffee - everyone could tell it was his fifth, the cups lying beside his desk were a dead giveaway - rapidly tapping his foot as he switches to another page in his biology book. Justin, gawking at his partner shakes his head. "We're so screwed."

Joddie consoles a rocking Abel. Their partners are MIA and Abel sensing the weight of the assignment upon his head couldn't help but panic. Of course Haleigh and Dimitri argue like they're in a jersey shore episode. And let me tell you, they're loud af. Not helping Abel's case one bit.

Ike Pickney lays back on his seat, legs stretched out, observing the chaos. His partner, Matt Thompson hadn't arrived yet. Even if he did show up early, they wouldn't be frantically working on their assignment like the rest of the class. For once they've actually worked their butts of during the weekend ad mist playing video games at the Pickney household. However, through bonding with each other they've both come to the decision that there is no way in hell they're getting a good grade even if they put their all into it. So they've admitted defeat and agreed to wing it on the day. It's not like Ike's parents care about his grades in the first place. So overall he's in a good place.

A site to be seen, the only pair not to go bat-shit insane, Lucas and Gina sit next to each other on Gina's side of the class. Jessica sits behind them swiping away at her phone. No site of Kagami or the Tripp brothers. The events of Friday evening forever embedded in her memory.

 _After Toby passed out the paramedics arrived to take him to the_ Venture Falls National Hospital _. Jessica insisted, no forced them to take her with them. Of course, Mark urged he'd come too. He's Toby's 'friend' after all and he couldn't leave him alone. It was crazy but the brunette couldn't shake off the feeling that this was all his fault._

_Once they arrived at the hospital, Jessica gave the nursing staff Mr and Mrs Tripp's contact details and that was the last she spoke that night. She stayed by Toby's bedside, watching him in silence as the nurses monitored his health. Mark sat at the opposite end before getting fed up of the whole silent treatment and walked out for some fresh air. Jessica could only stare as he walked out of the room, guilt overriding her over the events of that evening. Maybe if she had handled it better none of them would be in this mess. Eventually Toby woke up, dazed and confused mind you. Jessica's heart stopped. Toby was okay. Before Jessica could speak the prankster blonde was bombarded with questions from the nurses._

_"What is your name?"_

_The blonde squints his eyes, adjusting to the bright lights. "...Toby?"_

_"What day is it? Do you know where you are?"_

_"...F-friday. And I'm on a hospital bed?"_

_"Thank goodness!" Jessica jumped at the jokester, embracing him in a tight hug._

_"Jessica?" Toby froze at first still dazed and figuring out why was he in a damn hospital bed. But thinking too hard made his brain throb so he relented and accepted Jessica's hug._

_They stayed like that till Mark burst into the room upon hearing of Toby's reawaken. The brunette was starstruck at the scene. The boys make eye contact and there and then the memories start flooding back to Toby._

_Jessica broke the hug upon noticing Mark. The brunette scratched his head, gawking at his feet. Jessica crossed her arms, her gaze wander across the room making sure to dodge Mark. The nervous atmosphere got to Toby as he too had a glum look on his face. Thankfully Mr and Ms Tripp arrived to break the weird tension._

_They both flock to the boy, Ms Tripp in the mist of tears hugging her son for dear life. Mark and Jessica had to be excused as the doctors needed to discuss privately with the Tripps. Mostly consisted of talk about Toby's medical records and what could've brought on the seisure._

_Afterwards at the peak of 2am, Toby was discharged and they were all allowed to go home. Mark and Jessica had to hitch a ride with the Tripps though, which brought on a lot more awkwardness to it. For one, Toby sat in the middle, pretty much acting as a wall between Jessica and Mark, not that they minded anyways. However when Mr. Tripp brought up Toby skipping classes (Nick did in fact snitch) that opened a whole can of worms. Let's just say Toby learned his lesson and leave it at that._

Speaking of the jokester, Toby enters the classroom with Nick in tow.

"I'm telling you Nick, it wasn't my fault -" Toby stops as the class all stare at him. The topic of assignments immediately dissipates, instead talk of the mall incident penetrates the room. You got to admit, the media _is_ fast.

"Isn't Toby the one that had a seisure? You know, when everything went crazy at the mall?" Jackson whispers leaning into Sam.

"Wait was that kid on the news Toby?" Sky inquires to her partner.

"Well, they didn't say it was Toby but there are rumours that it was him."

"Yeah apparently he was with Mark and Jessica.."

"I mean, _it is_ unusual for Toby to be in class."

Ike rolls his eyes. It's already enough that Paula's obsessed with the Tripps but now the whole student body is too. Moreover, over some stupid rumours. Paula isn't letting this one go that's for sure.

Toby ignoring the class makes a bee line to Jessica. The girl could only sigh, already fortelling what this was all about.

Toby slams his hands on her desk, startling Lucas and Gina. "Guys, we need a group meeting ASAP."

Gina cocks her head in confusion. "A group meeting?"

"This doesn't include you Gina. It's...private."

Gina scoffs. She pauses, blinking a few times in shock. So, she's going to be excluded again huh? The same as 4 years ago. The girl stands from her seat ready to take her leave. "Well, since I'm clearly not wanted, let me excuse myself." The girl hops from her seat, slides off her desk and strides out of the classroom.

"Gina! Wait up!" Jessica calls out to the girl but she's long gone.

Lucas glowers at Toby, "Dude?"

"What? This is Gorm related." Toby says putting emphasise on Gorm.

Jessica sighs and shakes her head. "Toby, this has nothing to do with Gorm. You just lost control of your powers and caused a huge mess!"

Nick interrupts Jessica, hand on chin in thought. "Toby does have a point. None of us are capable of doing something like that in our normal forms."

"Thank you Nick!" Toby throws his hands to the sky in relief. Finally someone on his side. He would've kissed Nick if he wasn't his brother. That would be weird. You know what? Forget I wrote that.

Ms McGuck enters the classroom. One look silences the students. They scurry to their proper seats.

"We're definitely continuing this discussion after class!" The group disperses. Toby flops to his seat behind Jessica and other two boys returning to the opposite end of the classroom.

Gina marches back into the room with a scowl plastered her face. Behind her comes along Kagami. Despite her make up you could still make out the bags under her eyes. A for effort at least. Ambling towards her seat, said eyes make brief contact with Toby's. Kagami squints at him before twisting her head to the opposite direction, not giving him her time of day. Toby shrugs. Nick peers at the two biting his lip in concern.

Before Ms. McGuck commences the lesson she glances at Toby expecting an empty seat. "Ah, it's nice to see you've finally decided to attend my class."

"Well, I started getting biology withdrawals and I just needed to see my favourite teacher again. I couldn't bear it miss!" Quiet chuckles erupt in the classroom. Kagami rolls her eyes. Of course she had to be paired up with the epitome of spewing excuses.

Ms Mc Guck adjusts her glasses. "Well I'll see that you'll be accustomed to joining me after school for detention . That way, we'll have _plenty_ of time together."

Toby's face drops. Chuckles surround the classroom once more. Even Kagami had to join in. Justice served.

"Moving on..."

Kagami struggled to retain her attention . She didn't get a wink of sleep last night and hiding her tiredness from Shujin wasn't an easy task. From her rear view,she spots Chris Mc Clain. He's falling asleep, drooling all over his biology book. Poor Chris. Moreover, Kagami spots the coffee cups surrounding his desk. Praise the creators Kagami inherited her dislike for coffee from her grandfather. She would've done the same as Chris if it wasn't for her sensitive taste buds.

"About the assignment..."

Now that heightens Kagami's senses by 1000%. The class is dead silence, only Kemi's gulp could be heard.

"Now I'm aware that some of y'all might not be pulling your weight."

 _'coughTobycough_ ' Kagami says in her mind. She would've said it out loud but it'd be rude and she didn't need any enemies in her life.

"So to rectify this, I've set up new guidelines."

There goes Kagami's 'don't get in my way' comment. One way or another she'll have to work with Toby to get an A. Now getting Toby to cooperate, she didn't want to admit but she might need to call in backup. And that backup might be Nick.

"Both parties will have to hand up a one page essay on the work both of y'all contributed to the assignment. If y'all fail to do so, or if I suspect anything untruthful business or lack of cooperation, both will get an immediate fail."

"WHAT?" Kagami yells. Nick was right. Ms. Mc Guck is a tenacious bit of evil.

"Kagami! Toby, I'd expect but you? I'd never thought of you being the type to cause a scene."

Toby scoffs at the lowkey shade thrown at him.

"S-sorry Miss..." Kagami slumps back onto her seat. She rests her head on her hand, masking the tears threatening to burst out. She's such an idiot! Of course she had to make a scene in class. What would her mother say? Moreover getting compared to Toby. What an embarrassment! She should've known Ms McGuck would pull something like this. But she wanted to take the easy road. All her hard work, restless nights and this insomnia just so she has to start over from scratch! Kagami wanted to quit, to swear up and down at the teacher, flip a table. Cause an even more extravagant scene, like a volcano ready to implode. But she couldn't.

* * *

4.44pm

Nick and Lucas crouch on the cold floor of the school halls. It's lunch and Toby texted them in their group chat . _"Gorm meeting at 4.20 . Jessica you better be there."_ No surprise but Jessica wouldn't be attending their pseudo-meeting. Nick had received a text from the girl not long after morning classes ended.

_"Sorry I won't be there Nick. Mark texted me and I really need to talk to him. I'll stop by your house to work on our assignment. - Jessica"_

Explaining this to Toby, now that would be an interesting conversation. It's well known amongst Nick and Lucas that Toby isn't fond of Jessica and Mark's relationship. Ever since they started dating Jessica spends more time with Mark and co then with them. Nick isn't going to lie himself, he is somewhat hurt but there's no controlling Jessica. As the saying goes, _'she's an independent woman and she can do whatever the fuck she wants_ '. Now speaking of Toby, the one who called the meeting in the first place, is no where to be seen since biology and Nick has a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with Kagami. Nick sighs.

Lucas takes another bite of his burrito while eyeing his friend, who's still deep in thought. No doubt about it, he's thinking about Kagami again. Seeing Nick worry, Lucas digs into his backpack and pull out another burrito hoping to cheer his friend up. He probs Nick to take it, leaning it closer to the teen's nostrils before pulling away. "Hmm? Hmmmmm?"

The bespeckled teen gives his friend a faint smile before politely declining the offer. "Sorry Lucas, not hungry."

Lucas shrugs his shoulders. He tried. "More for me." He takes another large bite, savouring the sweet chilli sauce. "Now this is finger-licking good." He bits into his burrito again. "You're missing out Nick."

"Do people even say finger-licking anymore?" Nick asks.

"Says the guy that makes up words on the spot."

Nick pauses. "Good point."

Even if his stomach desires so, Nick wasn't in the mood for burritos. If it wasn't for his weak digestive system he would've taken it. However if Lucas really yearns for Nick to take a burrito he's doing himself a disservice given how he's devouring his burrito like it's his last meal. Nick gets it. They're tasty. You don't need to go that hard.

Anyways Nick's mind is too busy thinking about Kagami to focus on food. Specifically, on class this morning. She did a good job but he could still make out the dark circles under her eyes. Moreover, the way she reacted to Ms Mc Guck's new guidelines. She was definitely mid-tears. She may not demand it but Nick's absolutely going to square Toby up on this one. There is no way in hell Toby is going to ruin Kagami's perfect A strike. Nick swears on his soul, he'll do everything in his power to prevent that and if it means making Toby's life a living hell for the next two weeks then damn well he'll do that. He knows what it feels like not to be perfect and he won't let Toby ruin that.

For her sake and for his.

Nick curls his fist into a ball. Just the thought of Kagami getting anything other than an A, he couldn't fathom it. It's impossible, unthinkable, un-anything! He..he couldn't -

"Nick, you okay?" Lucas jerks Nick's shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah...I'm good." Nick unclenches his fist, attempting to sooth his mind. He needs to think of something else other than Kagami, or Toby, or whatever the heck is going on. Maybe he should've taken the burrito

Lucas pats Nick's shoulder to gain his attention. "Hey, Kagami at 12'o clock."

Wonderful. Absolutely-extrodinarily wonderful. Using Kagami to stop thinking about Kagami. Now that's a juxtaposition.

The girl leans on one of the lockers. As if her day couldn't get any worse. After biology with Ms McGuck the girl planned to make a beeline to Toby but the prankster beat her to it and left class in a hurry. She hasn't seen him since. One thing's for certain. He's definitely avoiding her. What is she suppose to do? She practically ran around the entire campus looking for him. Unable to stand anymore due to the mental and physical fatigue she collapses to the floor, back hunched, cradling her head as if she has a headache. What if he wasn't even on the school grounds? What is she suppose to do? Complain to Ms McGuck? Kagami sneers at the thought. Ms McGuck wouldn't do anything to help, even for her, the perfect student.

Kagami sighs until she spots Nick and Lucas. Pulling a 180, she straightens her posture and she skips over to them. If anyone knows where Toby is, it's them.

"Hey guys!" she says amicably but there is a tinge of airiness to her voice.

"Hey/What's up!"

Kagami kneels beside them, hand on her heart trying to regain her breath. "Have you seen Toby?" Her eyes glisten with hope.

"Nope./Nada."

Kagami slouches onto the nearby door in defeat.

"You okay? You're all sweaty and out of breath." Lucas prompts. Nick nudges him on the back. "Hey!"

Nick gives him the 'don't say that' face. Geez Lucas can be such a dunce sometimes.

Now in these circumstances Kagami would usually say yes. But she's tired, desperate and bitter. Would she regret this? Probably, but her thinking brain's dying and she needs to vent. "No, not at all! I've been running around the school trying to find Toby. I've texted him and called him a dozen times too but no reply! It's like he's avoiding me."

"Don't worry Kagami, we'll help you out as best as we can." Nick says.

Lucas squints his eyes, getting a better look at Kagami's complexion. "Yeah, about that, have you been sleeping well lately?"

"Huh?"

People might think Lucas is dense as a walnut but he can be pretty observant sometimes. They all noticed the bags under her eyes and she looks more thinner than usual too. Kagami really needs a one and one talk though Lucas isn't sure he's the right person for the job. Nick's close to her but given Nick's more logical approach Lucas doubts he'd help much but he's gotta try. "Your eyes. You have bags under your eyes and you look really pale too. Do you need me to take you to the nurse or -"

"NO! No.. I'm...I'm fine." Kagami's heart stops. Damn, she let her guard down! She stiffens and turns away from the boys. "Look, I have to go but if you see Toby can you call me?"

Nick nods his head but Lucas isn't done pressing Kagami. Maybe he should ask Jessica to butt in. She is a girl after all, girls know these things better than he does and Kagami might be more comfortable confiding in Jessica than with him. But there's this side of him, tough-love Lucas, that couldn't back down. So as she's about to leave Lucas grabs her hand, not only startling Kagami but Nick as well. "Kagami, you know if you have a problem or anything you can come to us to talk. We're here for you."

"Lucas...uh..." She wanted to tell him. To confide in him. To lash out. Cry.

"Thank you." but she couldn't.

Right before she can leave again, Lucas gently pulls her back. What now?

"Lucas!" Nick whispers to the teen while nudging him albeit harder than before. It's already enough that there's tension between Kagami and Toby but with Lucas too? Nick couldn't deal with that.

"At least have this before you go." Lucas offers her his second burrito. "You haven't had lunch yet have you? You can't go on with an empty stomach."

Kagami would've declined but she knows if she did Lucas wouldn't let her go and she's already done with the awkward situation. Gosh, why did he have to go all Shujin on her?

She takes it. "Are you sure?"

Lucas nods his head and releases her hand.

"Thank you..again." She gives a rigid smile before running off.

Making sure Kagami's out of view Nick smacks Lucas' head.

"OW! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?"

"Lucas?! You made her uncomfortable!"

"What? Something's up with her and it's definitely not about Toby!"

"It's about damn time some trouble doesn't involve me!"

Nick and Lucas yell and cuddle each other in distress. Their eyes trail to the source of the voice. Toby. He's head is poking out from the door nearby.

"Were you spying on us?" Nick accuses. Seriously not cool.

"I wouldn't call it spying. More like a happenstance?"

Nick and Lucas give Toby the side eye. Toby rolls his eyes then shrugs. He signals the boys to enter the empty classroom with a wave of a hand. Said boys glance at each other then at Toby before shrugging simultaneously and doing had Toby asked. Both were still pissed though, but if they listen to Toby they might be able to help Kagami. Once the boys have enter the blonde peaks out the door once more before shutting the door with a loud bang.

"You do know Kagami's looking for you?" Lucas proposes. More of a statement rather than a question.

Toby ignores him, dodging the question , striding his way to the podium. "Never mind that, where's Jess?"

"Never mind? Toby, she's losing sleep over this!" Nick walks up to the podium, poking Toby's chest with each word annunciated.

"Don't worry bro, I'll deal with that later we have more pressing matters to attend to." Toby places a hand on Nick to reassure him. Too bad, Nick's not letting go of the topic. He crosses his arms and grimaces.

"Toby."

Toby couldn't give a damn about the assignment. It's already enough that he has detention with the wicked witch of the south, but somethings going on in Gorm and nobody's doing anything about it. Yeah, did use his powers when he shouldn't have? Absolutely, he'll admit to that but that craziness that went down at the mall wasn't entirely his fault and convincing his friends is proving a complicated challenge. Yeah, he'll tell some white lies here and there but right now he's serious.

"Look, Nick, after this I promise I'll work on the assignment with Kagami."

Nick still not relenting continues to push Toby. "Not just work on it, you gotta promise to put your all into this! You gotta work harder than you've ever before. It has to be fantastic, absolute spotless, the best it can possibly be, the most -"

"Okay Nick, he gets the point." Lucas butts in, creating distance between the brothers. "Toby, we'll hear you out, just promise you won't slack off."

Toby places one hand on his chest and his raises his right hand, as if taking an oath. "I, Toby Tripp solemnly swear not to slack off and make sure Nick's girlfriend gets the grade she deserves."

A chuckle escapes Lucas' lips and eventually both him and Toby succumb to a laughing fit. Nick, fuming inside, adjusts his glasses and frowns. "Hey, that wasn't funny! And she's not my girlfriend!"

Lucas and Toby continue to laugh at the seething Nick until their laughter dies down.

Yes, Nick and Kagami spend a lot of time together but that doesn't translate to them being in love with each other. Why can't a guy and girl hang out and not instantly be mistaken as a couple? Nick isn't blind. He won't hesitate to say that Kagami is indeed physically attractive and it's a privilege to even hang out alone together. Nonetheless, suppose Nick is head over heels for her, she's way out of his league anyways. He doesn't stand a chance.

"Okay, okay, sorry little bro. I'm serious now, I promise not to slack off."

Nick, still pissed, pouts. Lucas butts in to ease the tension. Toby wants to talk, he isn't innocent but he'll at least give him that. "Come on Nick, he promised."

The bespeckled teen finally relents and sighs. "Fine. I'll hear you out."

Toby pumps his fist to the sky. "YES!" Step one completed, except for one thing. "Wait, where's Jessica?"

Lucas and Nick perch on one of the front desks near the podium. Nick whips out his phone before replying to Toby. "She's with Mark. Said she had something important to do."

"More important than this?"

"Apparently."

Toby rolls his eyes. He specifically told Jessica to come and lo and behold she's off with her boy toy . The blonde can just imagine it. Her and Mark, making out in some random secluded corner of the school all cuddled up together in a firm embrace -her hands relishing his abdomen, his on her hips. That nasty pervert would stick his disgusting tongue down her throat too. Explore her all over. Thinking about it made the blonde near vomit. Toby made a mental note to stop watching those late night rom-coms with his mom. Not good for his imagination at all.

Toby smacks his head repeatedly. The last thing he needs is a mental image of Mark and Jessica doing...stuff. Nick and Lucas stare at him in confusion.

"Whatever, since the lady isn't here to join us, us boys will have to continue without her." Toby reaches out to his bag and pulls out a potted plant and one of his dad's lawn gnomes. The face on that thing sends shivers down his spine. Whatever happens to it, his dad would thank him for it.

"Toby what are you planning? And why do you have dad's creepy lawn gnome?" Nick probes, a little hesitant to know what Toby's scheming.

"You see I've been thinking about it. When I tried to use my powers to knock Mark's drink down everything went crazy right? So if you guys try to use your powers too then the same will happen then you'll believe me and we can gate to Gorm." Toby smirks, proud of coming up with a simplistic but brilliant plan.

Lucas speaks up. "So, you admit what happened in the mall was your fault? And you tried to sabotage Jessica's date with Mark."

Toby flinches. He hoped they wouldn't have brought that up but Toby has no one but himself to blame. "Yes I did try to use my powers for...unconvenient circumstances but you guys have to believe me! I didn't try to flood the mall!"

Nick has to admit, Toby did come up with a good hypothesis for once. At least Toby isn't a brunt but he should put that working brain of his into his assignment with Kagami. Yet Nick couldn't help but notice a big fat flaw in Toby's plan. "So, say your hypothesis is true -"

"Which it will be!" Toby adds.

Nick clears his throat before continuing, " Like I said _if_ it's true and I end up causing some...sort of earthquake let's say."

Toby nods his head in agreement. Step two of his plans are in full motion, convincing Nick and Lucas. Once this meeting is done and dusted they'll be on their way to Gorm. Except there's one hassle, Jessica. However, with Nick and Lucas on his side they'll convince Jessica to tag along. It'll be 3 against 1, she can't back down even if she wanted to.

"I'd be putting the entire school in danger!"

"Yep!" Toby nods his head once more before processing what Nick said. "Oh." His expression changes to a frown once he realises the flaw to his plan. "Ooooooh."

"Yeeaaaaah."

There goes step two. But before all hope is lost to Toby, Lucas steps up to the potted plant.

"Lucas?" Nick calls out.

Did Lucas tune out or did Toby bribe Lucas with something behind his back? "Please don't tell me you're going to do what I think you're going to do?"

Lucas shrugs at Nick. "Hey relax Nick! We've dealt with worse stuff that this."

"What he said." Toby includes regaining his energy. Toby not helping.

Lucas swings his arm around Nick's shoulder, dragging him towards the creepy lawn gnome. Nick eyes the little guy in concern. His brother and his best friend are asking him to commit property damage. Nobody would know but still, the fact that somebody would potentially get hurt because of him isn't too comforting.

"Come on Nick! If anything crazy happens we'll gate to Gorm right away and fix this. Like old times."

Nick sighs. Toby and Lucas do have a point. They have faced worser stuff and even if thing don't seem to work it they always found a way out of it. All four of them that is. However, this time Nick isn't so sure things were going to be like old times. "Who wants to go first then?"

"I'll do it." Lucas volunteers. "I doubt my vines will do much damage anyways. That's gotta ease your worries Nick."

Nick grunts. Lucas steps up to the potted plant. The little seedling is mid growth, it hadn't fully bloomed yet. Lucas isn't all about messing with the natural cycle of life and death but accelerating the growth of a small seedling won't be too bad. Since it had been stashed in Toby's bag for god knows how long, it'll need all the help it can get.

Lucas closes his eyes in concentration. Hands outstretched, he attempts to communicate with the plant. _'It's alright now, Lucas got your back.'_

The brothers gawk at the scene. A site to behold, it was like those time-lapse videos except actually happening in the flesh. The stem branches out slowly but swiftly, growing and growing till it stops midway. Smaller stems branch out from the larger stem. From the nape of the main stem, the bud, the actual flower of the plant spurts out. Individual petals unweld from each other revealing the curved shape of the soft sundown of the flower.

Lucas drops his hands to his side. The brothers rush to their friend. If the events of the mall is going to repeat itself, at least Toby has an inkling of what to do in case Lucas starts spazzing out.

Instead, to the brothers' surprise they found their friend with tear stained eyes.

"Lucas what's wrong? Are you hurt?" Toby asks.

"You need us to take you to the nurse?"

The boy continues to sob till staggering the brothers as he grabs the plant, hugging it close to his chest. "How could you?!"

Toby blinks. "Wha?"

"He told me. He told me what you did Toby. You could've killed him!"

Now that was unexpected. Toby was awaiting Lucas writhing in pain (which kinda sounds twisted since Lucas is his friend and all) not to be berated once again for something he did. Honestly this time Toby didn't fathom what the hell he did to attempt murder on a plant. However, it is Lucas and it's apparent Lucas has a certain fascination with plants. Whatever Toby did it's probably be something minimal.

Nick takes the sobbing Lucas to the back of the class. "It's okay buddy, the plant's safe."

Lucas ignoring Nick continues chatting the flower. "Your coming home with me. I won't let Toby hurt you again."

Okay, so step two didn't go according to plan and Lucas, one of Toby's most greatest allies is off on Jessica's side. There's still Nick.

Nick, seemingly catching on to Toby's plan crosses his arms. "No."

"Come on Nick. You haven't tried using your powers yet."

"I've already seen what I needed to see."

Toby gets on his knees, hugging his brother as if it he's hanging off a cliff. Thank the orbs they were in a secluded classroom, Toby wouldn't be caught dead doing this in public.

"Please Nick! As your brother?"

Nick face palms. Now he understands how Jessica feels. Regardless if her meeting Mark was a hoax to get out of this pseudo-meeting or not, Nick made a mental note to pull a Jessica whenever Toby calls for another one of these conventions.

Toby finally lets go of Nick, rushing to the gnome and back to Nick, kneeing again. "For Dad?" the blonde says raising the creepy gnome to his face.

 _'What would Jessica do?'_ Nick thinks to himself. She'd probably do it to get it over with. Given that nothing happened when Lucas (whose currently still sobbing over his plant.) used his powers, Nick's a-okay to use his. He doesn't have total control over them but there is one thing he can agree on with his brother. That lawn gnome's got to go.

"Fine." Toby places the gnome on a desk and steps aside to let Nick do his thing. Nick emulates Lucas' stance, eyes closed and hands outstretched. The nature-loving teen ends his sobbing session to observe Nick. Even if nothing happened when Lucas tried to use his powers the same can't be said for Nick. He clenches the plant tighter. In case anything occurs, he won't let his plant, George XIII, fall to danger.

The gnome levitates midair. Toby clasps his hands, praying for something to happen. This is his only chance to get to Gorm. There is no convincing his friends afterwards. Please anyone just have something happen.

The door unlocks from the outside. The boys freeze. Nick breaks concentration, dropping the gnome in the processes with a loud smash.

"Umm...is everything okay?" It's Kagami.

The boys assemble to the broken pieces of the lawn gnome, hiding whatever they were doing from Kagami.

Nick breaks out into an awkward laugh. "Everything's fine. We're just ya know...-"

"Chilling! Us boys...chilling...in an empty classroom...together." Lucas adds.

Kagami beams at boys awkwardly. They were definitely doing something...weird in the classroom but she isn't there to find out what, nor is she curious to. She casts her gaze to Toby. "Yeah about that...Toby..."

The assignment. The blonde forgot all about it. How the hell did Kagami find him? Now that he thinks about it Nick was on his phone earlier. He didn't -

Nick interrupts Toby's thoughts. "Since the both of you are here you can work on your assignment! Excuse me and Lucas here." with that Nick drags a befuddled Lucas out of the class room.

"Wait! Nick?" Toby calls out. That traitor!

Before the blonde could do anything (like there's anything he could do in the first place) Nick and Lucas had already left. Kagami set down her bag and pulls out a few books she'd pick up from the library. "Where should we begin?" she says with a murderous smile.

Toby slumps to a nearby seat. This is going to be a long lunch break.

* * *

_'Hey Jessica. Can we meet by the persimmon tree at lunch? I think we need to talk.'_

Send.

Mark slumps to the nearest tree stump. This was all Serena's doing. The girl did have sharp eyes. She had caught him alone by the cafeteria and with her womanly senses she knew something was up between him and Jessica. Mark's plan had been to avoid Jessica till she calmed down. No doubt about it, she must've been fuming. That was the excuse he gave to Serena. However, Serena wasn't having it and practically threatened Mark to text Jessica that instant or she'd lock them both in the janitor's closet. How she'd go about this? Mark didn't have a clue but Serena does have some tricks up her sleeves. So here he is, by the persimmon tree waiting for Jessica practically shitting himself.

Now the real reason he had been avoiding Jessica? He wouldn't tell a soul. Yet he has to tell Jessica. That's what relationships are all about. At least that's what his mother told him.

Something had been bothering him since that accident in the arcade. Jessica has been Toby's friend since God knows how long. Mark wouldn't be surprised if it was since birth. Regardless they've been friends for a long time. Yet Mark couldn't shake the feeling that there may be more their relationship. For one, Jessica isn't loony but everyone knows you don't violently shake a poor man with a seisure. Also, the hug at the hospital. Would Jessica... cheat on him? No. She would never do that. Mark almost slapped himself silly for even thinking of a possibility of Jessica doing such a thing. Plus, it was just a hug. Friends hug each other all the time. However, the feeling of Jessica hiding something from him still lingers. Whatever it is, Mark is determined to find out.

Out of the corner of his eye he spots Jessica . He jerks to his feet, tiding himself wanting to look decent for his girlfriend. Hopefully she'll stay as his girlfriend after their conversation. Serena's womanly senses never failed him before.

Finally, the couple are at arms length of each other, wary of keeping their distance. For some reason, either it's cause he didn't go to the bathroom or the nervousness building up, Mark really needs to take a huge dump.

"Mark." Jessica says dryly. That doesn't help the butterflies in his stomach.

"Jessica."

"..."

"..."

Queue awkward silence.

Mark mentally face-palms. Not a good start at all.

Jessica breaks the silence, "About last Friday..." Mark's heart comes to a halt. Is it hot? Of course it's hot, the sun's up in the sky and oh yeah, focus. Jessica's about to say something.

"I'm sorry."

Now that is unexpected. Mark was sure Jessica was still enraged over the events of Friday evening . Apparently she had the entire weekend to calm down. The weight of the world scurries off Mark's shoulders.

"I shouldn't have acted the way I did. It's just...I don't know, I just lost my temper and everything went crazy and -"

Mark cuts off Jessica with a hug. Jessica relaxes and accepts the jester. They stay like this for a while till Mark speaks up. "Jessica I should be the one apologising. You were right. We should've left from the start."

"Mark..." Jessica tightens the hug. "Does that mean we can go back to the way things used to be?"

"Yeah. I'm kinda sick of the weird silence."

Jessica chuckles. Everything's good again right?

No.

Something's going on between her and Toby, his gut's telling him so. Mark knows in his heart that things would not go back to being normal until that aching feeling in his stomach goes away. For that to happen he must confront Jessica. If he doesn't their relationship couldn't continue. Relationships can't be built on mistrust, his mother once told him.

So he breaks the hug. "Sorry."

Jessica stares at him bewildered. "Mark, what's wrong?"

"I'm sorry Jessica, things can't go back to normal. Not yet."

Jessica couldn't help but freeze in a state of disbelief. Didn't they patch their relationship? Not yet!? What does Mark mean by 'not yet'? What could be troubling him? She ranks her brain, attempting to find anything, something that might be distressing him. Last Friday, the mall. Her eyes shoot open with an epiphany.

"Toby. It's Toby, isn't it?"

Mark combs his hair . "I'm sorry Jess, I just gotta know."

The girl didn't want to play dumb. She knows exactly what's worrying Mark. Curse her smart brain! Toby constantly appearing out of nowhere, annoying her, playing pranks on her. He's an annoying mosquito that won't go away. To every guy, that must mean one thing.

"You think...something's going on between me and Toby?"

Mark nods.

"Romantically?"

Mark nods again.

Jessica sighs. If they were dating 6 years ago and he asked this question, Jessica'd be rolling in the grass laughing into cardiac arrest. But no. Sadly, she isn't living in that reality and he had to ask her now. No point in lying to Mark, she may lose her temper here and there but she isn't a liar. Especially with her boyfriend.

"You really want the truth?"

Mark nods, AGAIN. (a/n Jesus Christ stop nodding!)

"Right now, I only like you Mark but..."

"But what?" Mark repeats.

Time to get it out Jessica. "4 years ago...I might've had a slight crush on Toby?"

Jessica flinches. She never told Mark, or anyone, about her pseudo-crush on Toby. Yeah, it's weird and even she's surprised those feeling came to fruition but after Supreme Luminous disappeared Toby and her had time to bond with each other. Without Nick or Lucas. Alot. However, after 5 long years of stagnation in their relationship, her feeling just kinda disappeared? Afterwards Mark came along, now all Toby is to her is a friend. Just a friend. Forever a friend. _Just friends_.

"O-kay..."

Jessica un flinches. "Okay?"

"Yeah?"

"You're not mad?"

Mark scratches his head. "I mean, you don't like Toby in that way anymore, right?"

"Yeah, we're just friends."

"Just friends?"

An idea pops into Jessica's head. "If we weren't just friends would I do this?"

Thus, Mark is met with a kiss. Though startled at first Mark moves his lips to better fit Jessica's. They lean closer to each-other, enjoying the heat of the moment before parting ways for a breath of air.

"Touché." Mark comments with a tint of red present on his cheeks.

"GET A ROOM!" That's Ike Pickney from across the school garden. Alongside him, his partner, Matt Thompson who winks at the two.

"Let's go somewhere more private." Mark suggests.

Jessica smiles. "Yeah, I like that." Forgetting her worries and doubts, Jessica spends the rest of lunch break in Mark's arms, relishing the new sensations and the ecstasy of the occasion.

* * *

"Guys I'm telling you something's up in Gorm!" Toby states, struggling to carry all the books Kagami lend to him from the library. Thankfully Lucas and Nick came to his aid. How he got here? Since Toby fell behind in class he required some catching up to do and Kagami deemed it mandatory that he read all these books by Wednesday. Still, there was one nagging problem Toby had.

They only need one biology book for class.

However, Kagami claimed going outside of class material would appease Ms McGuck. Then he asked why they couldn't use the internet. With that she replied, "You'll find better, more accurate facts through books." Toby resisted the urge to run. Even if he did, he knew the door was locked in that empty classroom. Damn you Nick!

The boys finally arrive at the Tripp house. Lucas and Nick set the books beside the counter.

"We're going to play video games until Jessica comes over. We would invite but you have some reading to do." Nick states pointing to the books. Lucas laughs in the background, his potted plant, George XIII in his arms.

Toby grimaces. "Why won't you guys listen to me!?"

"Maybe cause, I don't know, the lack of total destruction at school? Jessica was right, just let it go." Lucas declares.

Toby's a competitive guy and when it came to Jessica that competitiveness goes over 9000. Toby and Jessica always had a friendly rivalry, a need to one up each other in everything they did. So when Lucas insinuated that Jessica was right, that she had beaten him, Toby isn't going lay back and take it lightly. "No! I'm not letting it go! I'm getting to the bottom of this right this - WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!"

In that instant an old man, for some unknown reason is in the Tripp's kitchen. He stood there presumably the whole time, bowl in hand, watching the boys go about their business.

"Oh hello there."

Lucas and Nick wave back at the old man. "Hey, Mr. Ono."

Toby leers at Nick and Lucas, pointing to Mr. Ono. "Wait you know this guy?"

"Yeah, he's Kagami's grandfather. He owns that restaurant we went to with Mom and Dad."

Panic mod initiate. Kagami, Kagami, Kagami. Everything is about Kagami. It's already enough Toby has to deal with her in a daily basis now thanks to the queen of all witches and his friends constantly treating him like the bad guy while she's the saint that needs saving from his devilish hands. Now they sick her grandfather on him. He can't escape Kagami's influence even in his home. Instead of focusing on saving the Gorm, Nick and Lucas are off worrying about her. If she wasn't around, maybe they would believe him.

Mr. Tripp enters the kitchen with a stock of groceries. "Oh, I see you've met Mr. Ono."

"Yeah, uh Dad, what is he doing here?" Toby, exasperated, asks. He swipes a quick glance at the man. He's still smiling.

"I found him wandering about near the front porch and I invited him in. He'll a real good cook you know? We're exchanging recipes."

Mr. Ono chuckles. "I wouldn't say I'm that good. Most of the hard work comes from my head chief."

"Don't beat yourself up Mr. Ono. I'm sure you make great meals." Mr. Tripp turns to the boys. "Say, you boys -"

"No."

Mr. Tripp shrugs, "Boys will be boys."

Lucas and Nick head into Nick's room for some friendly smash battles whilst Toby sticks around, watching his father and Mr. Ono bonding through the 'art of cooking'. It makes absolutely no sense why anyone never questioned why Mr. Ono was lurking around in the first place? Is it to do with Kagami or is there something else Mr. Ono is here for? Whatever the case may be, Toby didn't have time dwell on such topics. He had to find another way to convince his friends. So he ditched the books and heads to the reliable source. The internet.

Unbeknownst to Toby is Mr. Ono's gaze following the blonde as he marches to his room.

"You sure have lively children Mr. Tripp."

Mr. Tripp chuckles. "Tell me about it."


	6. Mirror, Mirror. I'll tell you something...

At the start of her journey Flamma would have never imagined she'd end up behind a counter of a quiet faux of a bookstore. To be honest she was a little frightened of what the future held. It was Anchor's decision to follow Vestalt after their incident at the forest nation. Flamma could still remember those events as if it happened meerly yesterday.

They were a group of six at the time. Ciber, Tio , Impe , Accend and of course Anchor and herself. They lived in a quiet village on the outskirts of the lava territory. They were all third generation gormiti. Some grew tired of Magmion's antics and branched off, perferring to live peaceful lives rather than fighting in a pointless war. Her village was one of the few that sprung about due to that mindset those few gormiti harboured.

Flamma grew up happily in her village with her friends she held dear to her. Though one day, Flamma fell ill and the only cure, from the wise words of their village elder, was a root from the forest nation. Magmion rampage through the Gorm left tension between the fire gormiti and the other elemental gormiti, thus a known rule amongst their village was made. Nobody was allowed to venture outside of the village. Not to other elemental areas and especially not to Volcano Mountain.

Flamma was content with her inevitable short life. She had her friends who she considered family and her village she adored so much. Though Accend couldn't bear it. He was their so-called leader of their mini-pack. It was his idea to go against the words of their village elder and venture to the forest nation. Anchor, timid and feeble at the time, was strongly against such. But Accend was special. He had an inate ability to convince others and lead. Thus him and their mini-pack left at the cold of night, leaving Flamma behind.

"Don't worry!" Accend said with his effectious smile,"We'll get that root and come back straight away!"

He wiped away the lava tears from her blurry eyes. "We'll play again like we used to. I promise."

And that was the last Flamma saw of him.

Only Anchor came back, root in hand, eyes devoid of his usual spark. Once Flamma was fully healed he had told her the news. Their beloved friends were dead, caught by the forest gormiti and presumably killed. Anchor only made it out alive due to Vestalt and her army's intervention.

Anchor had also told her he was leaving the village. Having disobeyed the elder's wishes, he was banished, only allowed back for one more night to give Flamma the root. Anchor didn't care. Their village was cut-off from the rest of the lava nation, so news on Magmion's exploits were few or considered merely rumors. But Anchor told her that Obscurio and Magor were back in Gorm, the gormiti from the legends, Magor, the one who started the war.

Vestalt was part of Magor's fleet, in fact she was second in command. Anchor didn't give a damn about Magor, he just wanted to avenge his friends so he'd follow Vestalt, his saviour to battle. He'd learn from her and grow stronger. Strong enough to get back at the forest nation, no, the lord of the forest himself.

When the time came for Anchor to leave, Flamma rushed after him, claiming she'd do the same. She was terrified. Magor was a cruel leader and Flamma didn't want to fight in a war but she felt guilty. Her friends died to keep her alive. She needed to repay them somehow. She needed to get stronger. So the both of them left together , trained together under Vestalt's guise.

Magor's next move was to reconstructing the fire orb, once lost in an ancient battle right before he disappeared into a votex to an alternate dimension. Vestalt had happened to be fighting in that battle and was sucked into a rift, leading her to a tower called Tartarus. There she found several pieces of the orb before somehow making her way back to Gorm.

So Flamma and Anchor, alongside their fellow lava soldiers searched the Gorm for missing pieces of the fire orb. They also travelled to Tartarus, searching for pieces there with the book Vestalt found during her entrapment.

Through the book, they also found out the final piece of the orb was somewhere on earth, and with many sacrifices were able to open a portal to earth.

And now Flamma is here, behind a counter in a faux of a bookshop. The peacefulness almost reminds her of her time back in the village. It sadden her, but she couldn't wallow in self-pity everyday. Her friends gave her a second chance of life, though life in Volcano mountain was hard with Magor and constant training, she's now stronger than ever before. She gets to experience new things and meeting new people! All that hardship lead her on this path and she going to give it her all. For her sake and for the sake of her friends.

"Flamma!" Anchor calls out from the entrance. "We're leaving. Commander Vestalt will take over the counter."

With a grand smile, Flamma skips to the front door and clucthes Anchors arm, much to his demise. What new things she'll find today? Regardless, she's excited for a new day of wondeful encounters.

* * *

Another dream about him.

Kagami stares at the messy cupboard. 1.35am in the morning and she's snooping around the kitchen for a warm cup of milk. Another nightmare and for the sixth time this week. At first, Kagami just brushed it off as a typical nonsense dream but the recurring events are worrying her. It's been the same dream every night. Of her alone in the desert with Supreme Luminous from the stories Ojii-san told her as a kid.

_"It's your turn now."_

What does he mean by that?

Surely she can't forget the ending. She's engulfed in flames and a mysterious figure cackles murderously till she wakes all sweaty. Kagami couldn't explain why everything feels so real. The orb, its harsh intense energy pulls her in...but it doesn't hurt.

Kagami is desperate to tell someone but she doubts anyone would take her seriously. If anyone at school found out she's obsessed with a fictional world of strange creatures, that'd be it for her status. She'd be the laughing stock of the whole school. Maybe her Ojii-san would understand, but somethings stopping her from approaching him. She can't explain it, but there seems to be an invisible wall between them. A wall she very much likely wants put. Ojii-san has been nothing but kind to her since her birth so her not fully trusting him does seem a bit rude but Kagami couldn't help it.

One thing's for certain. There's no way in hell she'd tell Shujin. He isn't scary or anything, yet less friendly than her Ojii-san, he's nothing like her mother. For one, she wouldn't be able to escape her sharp gaze back when she lived in Japan. Even away from her mother, Kagami could still feel her lingering presence.

The letter...

The assignment.

Kagami shakes her head, ridding the thoughts of her recuring nightmare. Now's not the time. She has do more research her assignment. She shouldn't be worrying about some stupid nightmare. Her mother was right. Those fairy tales weren't good for her brain.

Kagami approaches the refrigerator. With every second she's wasting precious time she should be using on her assignment.

Quiet but still hearable, a slow squeaking envelopes the apartment.

_'Someone's awake!'_

Kagami instantly ducks, praying the dark of the night and the cupboards would conceal her from the predator.

 _'Please don't let it be Shujin.'_ Just the thought could give her a massive headache. Shujin wouldn't stop pressing her till she'll 'spills all the tea' as they say here in the west. Doesn't help that she's already half asleep.

Yet her nagging curiosity wouldn't stop itching. Certain she's still concealed by the dark, the girl takes a peak. It isn't Shujin, bless her heart but her Ojii-san instead. He tiptoes across the hall towards the front door. Examing the apartment complex for any sign of life (praise the orbs, Kagami closed her door and turned her lights off before entering the kitchen, that'd be a dead giveaway.) he breathes a sigh of relief before exiting.

 _Where is he going?_ Kagami couldn't help but wonder. However, her curiosity came to a halt. The assignment, that's the most important thing. Kagami closes the fridge, losing her appetite in the process. She's wasted enough time already.

Quoting her mother's infamous line. "Back to work."

* * *

Kagami ogles at the regular sized cappuccino she bought. She didn't know if those inherited tastebuds were a blessing or a curse.

In defense, Kagami's been tired out of her mind for the past few days. The girl could hardly keep her eyes open during class. Even during the recent student council meeting, Jenny couldn't help but point out how unusual Kagami's been acting.

_'You okay Kagami?' Jenny asked after their meeting had finished._

_'Hmm?' Kagami posed, taking a rather sunken look on her features._

_' You're more grumpy lately...is everything okay?'_

_Kagami slammed her fist on the table. 'I am NOT grumpy!'_

_Jenny mouthed something Kagami didn't catch as she backed away slowly. 'Okay...um I'm going to take my leave now."_

_All Kagami could do was bonk her head on the table. The pain wasn't even as bad as her lashing out on Jenny._

Anyways, Kagami's suppose to met Toby at the library by now. She booked a room for the two of them in advance. It's the ideal situation! No distractions, nobody else, just the two of them working on the assignment. Kagami went ahead to prepare but she fell asleep. Thankfully she woke up before Toby arrives. If he saw her like that it'd be way too embarrassing to recover. Knowing Toby, he'd use that against her.

That is, if he shows up.

For now she has to deal with this cappuccino first before worrying over the resident troublemaker. She could not afford to fall asleep so she succumbed to one of her worse nightmares.

She succumbed to the coffee addiction.

Chris appeared awful in class, but this is only going to be one. Just one cup should be enough and then no more. Plus it isn't like she's going to get hooked on them anyways (maybe those taste buds are a blessing). So Kagami lifts the cup till the opening touches the tip of her rose-coloured lips.

_'Here is goes.'_

Kagami downs one gulp.

...

...

...

She does a double take.

Kagami gaggles. The sheer bitterness rushes through her neurons. It's as if she had eaten a black chalk. The girl couldn't withstand it anymore. She spurts out any remains in her mouth, staining her jumper with coffee and saliva. _What concoction is this? How did Chris manage to down five?_ Rushing to the nearest bin, in autopilot she chucks the drink into the dumpster. Kagami flinches as the taste still lingers. She continues to cough and hackle, just anything to get that wretched taste gone and out. She sticks her fingers down her to mouth, rubbing off the bitter taste. It's dumb, she knows, but she couldn't stand the taste. Thankfully she stumbled into an empty hallway.

After seemingly getting rid of the taste, she leans her weight onto the bin. She should head back. She's wasting time again.

Whilist heading back to the library Kagami makes a dash to the school vending machine. Sparkling water doses the bitter coffee straight clean and away. Kagami couldn't relish on the calming effects on the water as she just notices the stain on her clothes.

 _'Damn it!'_ The girl does not have time to go to the bathroom and a perfectly good scarf is dangling on her neck so she uses that combined with the water to make her look somewhat presentable. The stains are still in place but they're fading and she could still conceal them with her she arrives at the library. She checks herself one more before continuing forward.

Yet she thinks of the possibility of Toby not showing up. Toby makes it pretty evident that he does not care for the assignment one bit. His posture, tone, even when she does get the opportunity with Toby he seems so...rude? Kagami never really interacted with Toby much. She's really close with Nick, everyone knows that and she only recently started to get to know Lucas and there's Jessica and Gina too but Toby was always an oddball. It's weird. Tense almost. It's as if...Toby never liked her from the start, before this whole assignment craze. But why? They hardly interacted, so there's no reason to dislike her, right?

Kagami sighs.

There she goes daydreaming again.

Regardless she may need Nick's help on this one. Kagami unlocks the door. She had left her phone in the room. She might send him a quick text before hitting the books again. Where was it again? Right behind the pile of books, the ones Toby's reading.

...

The bright red phone case lies there by Toby's arm.

...

...

...

...

A few centimetres, almost at arms reach, there lies Kagami's phone by Toby's arm.

...

...

.

...

...

The arm, belonging to not Nick, not Lucas but Toby is literally finger tips away from her phone.

...

...

..

The boy doesn't notice Kagami at all.

.

"TOBY?!"

Toby breaks out of his trance, startled by Kagami's call.

"What are doing here?" Kagami asks.

Toby gives a puzzled expression. "To work on our assignment?" A sly grin appear on Toby's face kicking off his playful instincts. "But if you don't want me here I guess I can -

"NO!" Kagamai rushes over to the boy, grabbing his arm desperate not to let him leave. It's a miracle he's even here in the first place. "I mean, sorry It's just..."

"You didn't the delinquent Toby so show up on his own accord did you?"

He didn't have to put it so bluntly. "I wouldn't put it like that! It's just, I didn't expect to see you here so early. "

Toby raises his eyebrow. She totally sees him as a delinquent. He isn't all that offended, it's the truth after all. However misses goody two shoes can't admit it, probably because she doesn't want to get on his bad side. Anyways, Kagami's dying to work on the assignment and so does doesn't really have a choice given Nick and the gang made sure of that. So Toby relented. He isn't fond of anything that doesn't define 'fun' but Toby isn't too keen on his layback approach effecting someone's health so badly.

Yeah, that's right. Toby isn't a total heartless bastard. Being a gentleman for once, Toby gets up from his seat, patting the wooden chair insinuating for Kagami to sit on it. Though confused the girl obliges.

Toby hops to the opposite end of the table. He scurries to his bag in delight. "I've got a great idea for our assignment, I was thinking about it all yesterday evening."

Kagami strikes a worried glance. Toby's cooperating. He must be planning something. Regardless, it's the closest Toby has gotten to caring about their assignment so Kagami is willing to hear him out.

"So I've been going over the text book, you know since I've been behind and all." Toby pulls out said biology text book. He flips through the pages trying to find something.

Kagami's flattered, surprised even but there's still something nagging on her mind. "Toby, I'm glad you've done your research but..."

"But what?" Toby stops scanning through the book.

"What about the books I gave you from the library. Did you read those?"

"Oh yeah those! I returned them the other day. Too many complicated words. I thought it would be best to use the text book instead."

"Why didn't you tell me!" Kagami says with hurt apparent in her voice. She specifically told him to read those books!

"Hm I dunno know. Guess I forgot to tell you, anyways -"

How could he forget! They met up yesterday evening, he should've told her then!

Toby continues. "We should do ours on the eco system, Venture Falls eco system!"

Big. Fat. Red. Flag.

"NO!"

"Why not?"

Has Toby not been listening to a word she said the past few meetings? Here she is thinking Toby wouldn't be that much of an airhead! Kagami sighs before explaining to Toby. " Lucas and Gina, Ike and Matt, Abel and Andrea, Justin and Chris, all of them will be doing the Eco system! If we do it too then we'll lose the chance of getting a good grade! "

"But that means we'll have to make our presentation the best!" Toby clasps his fists together, pumped up with the excitement of going against his classmates.

However, the excitement is short-lived as Kagami shuts Toby down once more, "If we do an outstanding presentation then we might get a good grade but it won't be enough for an A! It's an easy topic so of course to Ms. Mc Guck it'll be taking the easy way out! "

Toby slouches. He's spent all yesterday afternoon working his butt off to play catch up , putting Gorm and possibly the fate of the world aside so he can help this girl get a good grade just for her to say no?

"But I worked so hard yesterday..." Toby pouts.

That struck a nerve to Kagami. He may have tried yesterday evening but Kagami's been pouring blood, sweat and tears since day one and all of that gone to waste cause Toby didn't want to lift a finger to help. He thinks he got it bad? Usually Kagami would say quite, if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all. But she's pissed. "And I've been working hard since day one! Frankly, I'm not going to throw all that away just because someone didn't want to cooperate from the get go."

Toby isn't dump. He heard that passive aggression in her voice. "That someone may have had other business to attend to but they're here now to help!"

Kagami relents. Now's not the time to be arguing. "Okay. Okay. Sorry. Will you hear me out...please?" That's more for herself than for Toby. She needs some way to calm herself down before the situation escalates any further.

"...Sure." Toby says, albeit bluntly.

"As I told you before, we'll be doing the body, specifically the cellular respiration in both plants and the human body and photosynthesis."

"But isn't Kemi's group doing photosynthesis?" Toby swore he heard Kemi crying over not understanding those photosynthesis formulas.

"Yeah, but they're not doing photosynthesis _and_ cellular respiration!"

Good point but there is another complaint that Toby has. Though he tried his best he still hadn't fully caught up to the class. He has a basic understanding of photosynthesis, yet he doesn't know jack about cellular respiration. Not only that, photosynthesis, plant respiration and body respiration were all three different topics with multiple chapters on their own summing up to more workload Toby couldn't chew. It's simply unfair. The amount of time it'd take him to sit down and research those topics would far outweigh the time he'd have to work on the presentation. Basically suicide!

"Uh...Kagami?"

"Hm?"

"Maybe we should stick to one topic?"

"No."

It took every ounce of strength for Toby not to get up and leave. Is she this overbearing when working with others? Toby couldn't fathom how anyone could stand her!

"Look Kagami, this is insane! I've barely reached chapter 3 last night! There's no way I can study all those chapters before the assignment is due!"

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have slacked off and actually attended class."

That's it. Toby tried. By God, he tried to be nice and help the girl. However, _she's_ the one being uncooperative. There is no way Toby's doing that much for a potential A. Kagami may be ready to slave herself away but she isn't bringing him down with her. Heck, Nick doesn't do this much.

"Kagami.. I know it might not seem this way, I truly want to help but this is too much for me to handle."

"Too much? This is the only way we can get an A!" Kagami slams her fists on table, already ticked off with Toby slacking again. " You want to settle for a B? C? Not me! I have to be at my best, please just understand -"

Okat that's it. No more Mr. Niceguy. "Not everything has to be perfect! You know, somethings getting a B or a C isn't so bad."

"Toby...I can't settle for a B!" Kagami could feel the tears well up from her eyes. Things weren't suppose to go this way.

Toby rests his palm on his head. _'Shit.'_ It's already enough people are on his case about the assignment. If they heard he made Kagami cry, there'd be a witch hunt after him. Toby isn't all for making girls cry but he's adamant on his decision.

Back to being Mr. Niceguy. "Sigh..look, if you really want an A so bad we'll do it but with a different way! A way that's less...destructive."

But Kagami isn't letting up.

"I can't take that chance! We have to things my way!" she cries.

"Why's that!?" Toby screams. Why does she have to be difficult? If she just listened to others for once in her life-

"BECAUSE!" The tears that threaten to leak cloud her vision but she doesn't care. "Because... My way works! It always has. I...I can't change that. Not now..."

"But, you won't know if you don't try!"

"Toby, you don't understand! I can't! Please!" Kagami begs.

Toby couldn't lie to her. "I'm sorry, I can't." Perfect. The word continues to ring through her mind. All her life she had been that very word. She's the model student, gifted, special, a goddess. In a higher realm than any of her classmates. For everyone else in her position, they would've felt honoured. But for Kagami, she loathed every second of it. She hates studying, the way people would place her on a pedestal. It's lonely, scary even.

However, she continued for her mother's sake. Because what matters most to Kagami in the entire world, is her mother's love.

So she'll keep studying, and keep putting on this facade if it makes her mother happy. The thought of disappointing her mother, utterly crushed Kagami. Why did Ms. Mc Guck have to pair her up with Toby? Why did she have to sabotage everything she worked for?

"Why..." she calls out. "Why did it have to be you?"

Toby stares at her blankly. That look on her face, it creeps Toby out.

Kagami couldn't take it. Why couldn't she be with someone else? Why couldn't she be with Nick?

Nick...

With him she wouldn't have to worry. He'd do everything she asked of him. He's that loyal to her. It made her sick to her stomach. Yet he gives her what she wants, so she endures it with a smile.

"Why couldn't it have been Nick..."

Though muted, Toby heard what she said and any sympathy he had for her flies out the window.

He isn't knows full well that Nick is the superior brother. Nick's the golden child. Good grades, stellar behaviour, always does his chores. While Toby's the complete opposite. He's nothing compared to Nick in this life. It's stupid but whenever people compare him to Nick, it hurts. A lot. As if it's reaffirmation of how useless Toby is.

Toby side steps Kagami, completely ignoring her rushing to pack his bag. He didn't know where to go, just anywhere away from her.

"What are you doing?" Kagami calls, grabbing him by the wrist ,stopping him from packing.

Toby roughly yanks her hand off, "Leaving."

"You can't leave! What about our assignment!?"

Toby hauls his bag to his shoulder, avoiding eye contact. He just needs to get out. "You figure it out."

Shocked, Kagami freezes in place, granting Toby an outlet to go. Kagami had to go after him. So she races after him, tripping for a second losing her footing before jolts out.

"TOBY!" Kagami finally catches up to him, grabbing the back of his jacket to stop. "Please..I didn't mean - "

Toby speaks up. "You know, it's people like you I hate the most."

Kagami flinches. Unconsciously she lets go of his jacket, utterly bewildered that Toby would say that. She had her suspicions but for him to utter those words. It's a first for someone to say such to her.

"You think you're better than everyone else!" Toby spins around, glaring at her. This is the angriest Kagami has ever seen Toby. " Little Miss Perfect on her throne, looking down on all of us good-for-nothings!"

 _'How dare he!'_ "Don't put words into my mouth! You don't understand - "

"Understand what? That you only care about yourself?" Toby roars. He didn't care that Kagami is girl, if she cries, that Nick likes her. Kagami had provoked him and Toby didn't know how to stop.

"You use people to make yourself look better. You don't care about Nick, Jess or any of them! You're only worried about yourself!"

Kagami clenches her fist. She avoids eye contact, staring at her feet instead.

"You act like you're the nice student council president that has everyone's best interest in mind but you're not."

_'Shut up.'_

"You know what you are? A fake!"

_'Shut up. Shut up!'_

"A fake that uses people to make herself feel better!"

_'shutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutup SHUTUP!'_

Toby strides up closer using his height against to hover above her. His gaze holds hers, locking her into a trance. "And there's one thing that you need to drill into that thick brain for yours."

Kagami's clenched fists shake frantically. _'Why can't he shut up already!?'_

Yet Toby isn't letting up. He leans in close, so close they could be practically kissing from far away. "You're just like the rest of us. No matter how hard or how long you try, you'll never be perfect. So just quit the nice act already."

Kagami loses it.

"And why don't _you _shut up already!" Kagami snatches Toby shirt, jerking him away from her face. "So you got me figured out huh? What a joke! You will never understand what I've gone through to make it this far!"

A crowd starts to form around them.

Toby fires back. "How am I suppose to understand when you're being a bossy bitch all the time!"

The crowd 'oohs' ring out at the comment. Nobody had dared swore at Kagami before. But Kagami isn't done. That just lit a fire within her. So she bites back, hard. " Oh so I'm the bad guy now!? Look at yourself!"

"Hey! Now you - "

"No! I had to endure you throwing insults at me, now it's _your_ turn!"

So Kagami goes off, leaving no time for Toby to rebut. "All you do is skip class all day and jerk off! And I'm the one who doesn't care about other people? Hypocrite!" Despite the height disadvantage, Kagami is the one towering over Toby. He dominated the argument at the beginning but now, Kagami's gonna show why you don't mess with her.

"You're a disgrace to your friends and family! You probably worry them to death with your crazy antics. "

Toby cackles, He's heard all this before. "My parents?! What about yours? I don't see them anywhere! I bet they sent you here so they don't have to deal with an ungrateful daughter like yourself – "

A huge smack erupts and confused, Toby's eyes were now fixated on the ceiling. Kagami had slapped him.

"Don't you _dare _talk about my mother like that."

The slap was so hard that it knocked Toby off of his feet. He lays on the ground, shocked out of words to say. He places his hand on his cheek. _'Did she just smack me?'_ Not even his parents would lay a hand on him.

"Do you think I like being in the student council?" the tears threaten to come back as she trembles, clutching the hand that smacked Toby. "That I like being the perfect student?"

Kagami didn't know what she was saying. Her emotions are on an all time high and she goes on autopilot. "I'm only doing this because my mother..." The tears begin to fall. "My mother..."

"My...my...oka-san.."

Where was she when Kagami needed her?

"Woah woah woah Back up!" Mr. O Brian rushes through the crowd. "This is a library! Get back to your seats or get out!" with his warning the students flee back to whatever they were doing. Kagami and Toby still remain in place.

"Kagami!? Toby? What's this commotion?"

Kagami looked up at the teacher, her vision completely blurred with tears. "I.." she chocks out. A lump in her throat stops her from completing her sentence. Whatever she trying to say, she didn't know herself. The energy from before is zapped from her. Unable to bear it any longer she does the only thing she's capable at the moment. She runs.

She pushes past the audience, not caring about courteousness. Kagami couldn't see where she is heading. She's outside, given the cold autumn wind. The tears completely blinded her vision. With her emotions in a mess, Kagami doesn't register a fairly large brank and she trips ungracefully. Her primary instinct is to balance herself, but her hand slips and she's sent tumbling down a hill. Everything is a mirage of colors, she couldn't tell from up and down till a tree bark halts her fall.

Kagami briefly dusts herself off and wipes away the tears. Though how many times she wipes her eyes the tears won't stop.

 _Baka! Idiot!_ \- she scolds herself. It's the first, in two years since moving to Venture Falls she's gotten into a fight. Kagami's embarrassed, angry at herself for letting her emotions take over. Everything is ruined. If Toby was reluctant to work on the assignment he sure as hell doesn't want seeing her face ever! She struck him, everyone saw it. He'd tell Mr. O Brian, everyone, how much of a horrible person she is. What would they think? What would Nick think? They'd hate her for sure , shun her from the student body. She'll be a total outcast, kicked from the student council, glares surrounding her wherever she goes.

_Baka!_

Kagami hoists herself up only to stop midway with a sharp sting from her knee. She must've scrapped her knee from the fall. That triggers Kagami and she's blubbering uncontrollably.

 _'Stop!'_ she instructs herself. ' _Stop crying!'_

Her attempts remain fruitless, instead fuels her weeping session, sniffling harder with each command.

If her mother saw her crying like a baby, Kagami couldn't imagine -

That's right her mother.

Kagami fumbles through her pockets, pulling out the letter from her mother. She unveils the envelop, rereading the letter quietly to herself.

_To my dearest daughter,_

_Sorry to keep this letter brief. Your grandfather sent me your recent report card. Your father was pleasantly pleased with your results. He wouldn't stop bragging it at his meetings. Oh, I almost forgot, your father is going on a trip to Paris this coming Saturday. He was so impressed with your achievements that he decided to take me with him!_

_You're truly a special daughter Kagami. To have you in my life, it has done wonders. Please keep up the stellar work._

_Love,_

_Your mother._

This letter...

Kagami loves her mother, she'd do anything for her, but whenever she read her letter, it irritates her. Kagami knows she shouldn't be feeling this way. It's disgusts her, how much she...she revolts her mother? It keeps her mother happy and living but can the same be said for herself? She's like a bird in a cage. Wings are meant for flying but Kagami isn't aloud to use hers. But if it makes her mother happy, she'd stay in that cage. Why? Her mother's back in Japan. She's free to do whatever she wants, right? No! If she doesn't keep this up then her father will - Yes! that's what she truly wants to do right? What she really wants it to appease her mother! But why! Why does it hurt so much?

Kagami crumbles up the paper. _'I shouldn't be feeling this way!'_

She's been preaching over and over again, how others don't understand what's she's gone through, what she's sacrificed but here she is not comprehending why she's doing what she's doing. Kagami's trapped in a perpetual loop, unable to escape, to truly understand herself.

Kagami shuts her eyes. The tears, once pitiful are now tears of angry.

Wallowed in her plight, Kagami senses a faint smell of smoke.

_'Smoke?'_

Kagami loved fairytales as kid. Her Ojii-san coming over to visit in Japan was one of few delights as a kid. He'd tell her stories, though not the usually stories of princesses and wizards. No, the stories he'd tell her were about elemental creatures called Gormiti, and Kagami was absolutely invested in those tales. Magic had always interested her ever since but she never believed it was real. That is, until now.

The faint, now strong scent of smoke emits from the former neatly written letter set a flame in her hands.

Kagami's primary instincts kick in and she flings the burning note away, jumping back towards the tree in total shock.

_Did she...? How?Wha - ?_

Completely in a daze, the girl failed to realize that the letter, that her mother neatly handwritten, is on fire in the school garden with the fire growing ever present.

_'Shit!'_

Kagami quickly rises to her feet, ignoring the pain in her right knee, forgetting her recent scare and stamps on the fire. She didn't have any water, what else is she suppose to do?

Though successful in putting out the fire, the letter is in complete shambles. There is no salvaging it, nothing but ashes now. 'What the heck is going on?' Kagami thinks out loud. The girl had no time to process her hidden ability to conjour up flames when she heard someone call out her name.

"KAGAMIIIIIIIIIII!"

It's Lucas. She could see him on top of she hill she fell off, alongside him is Gina. She spotted them but didn't take notice of her yet.

Kagami couldn't face anyone at the moment. Not now, while she's in a vunerable state. Despite the pain she stands on her feet, prepared to sprint away before Lucas could chase after her.


	7. ...I think I might change it all

Shujin tosses a stone towards the cold waters of the lake.

 ** _'Only two bounces.'_ **He sighs in disappointment.

His picks up another stone, determined to beat his 2 bounces. With a flick of the wrist, he tosses the stone. It bounces off the surface of the lake.

**_'Yes!'_ **

Gaining momentum, the stone takes flight once more, landing on the surface then promptly sinks to the depths of the lake.

 **"Kusou"** ' Shujin curses.

Shujin slouches down on the ground thinking back on the events of earlier this morning. The old bastard finally decided to attend work on time. Shujin took this as an opportunity to ask him about the book he lent to Kagami. Of course, with his usually wacky smile, he dodged the subject, insisting that he merely received it from a man from his childhood and he couldn't remember the rest.

 _ **'Lying bastard.** '_ Ono has the memory of a hawk. Regardless, Shujin let it be. It's just a harmless fairy tale, can't do no harm.

Anyways, they have more pressing issues to attend to. Kagami's insisted Shujin to keep it _hush hush_ infront of Kagami. It was tough convincing her father, but eventually he relented stating that Kagami studying overseas would make him look good to his business friends.

Shujin still remembers the first time he met her father. The day they left for America. Shujin instantly hated his guts. Now the plan is to cut off ties entirely. Though how, with her fathers immense wealth and power, that is proving difficult at the moment.

Shujin sighs. Still, this was better than life with the yakuza.

_'Click!'_

"Kinkaede? Really?"

Kinkaede stands firmly behind his $400 DSLR camera. It was his idea to spend their break by the lake, rambling on about how the evening sundown would make a great lighting effect on the water.

Kinkaede takes another shot of Shujin prompting the former yakuza to stick up his middle finger at Kinkaede. Kinkaede laughs at Shujin's jester.

Finally Kinkaede stops his snapping spree and wanders to Shujin, adamant to show him his 'masterpieces' as Shujin likes to put it.

"Look." Kinkaede directs him to the screen of his camera. "The lighting is perfect here. The way it radiates off your hair and enhances the calmness of the lake." Kinkaede then circles the image of Shujin's face. " And your face, you look so lost in thought, confused ,conflicted. It juxtaposes the calmness of the environment. You see why I had to a pic?"

Shujin couldn't believe Kinkaede was right. The image was beautifully solemn. Perfectly capturing the turmoil in his head.

Kinkaede puts his camera back on it's tripod. "You need to talk?"

Shujin sighs but relents. "It's just the usual. Kagami and - "

"The 'Devil King' himself?" Kinkaede finishes.

Shujin gives Kinkaede an exasperated expression. He couldn't lie to himself. Kinkaede finishing his sentences kinda turned him on.

Kinkaede returns to taking shots of the cold lake. "You planning on telling Kagami yet?"

"Once we get the demon lord out of the way. The bastard won't stop calling." Shujin says as he sits himself on a bench.

Kinkaede chuckles in response before returning his focus on his 'work.' Shujin rolls his eyes, fancying the colours of the sky over Kinkaede's photography craze. Once Kinkaede's in his element there's no breaking him out of it.

Shujin closes his eyes. Why does trouble always follow him. Almost meditating, Shujin enjoys the fresh air until he feels a thud on his chest. His eyes shoot open and there standing tall and broad as ever, Kinkaede, hand outstretched towards Shujin's chest holding a couple of bucks. Shujin couldn't help but facepalm. Regardless, he takes the money, already understanding what Kinkaede is insinuating.

"So you can't get food yourself?" Shujin teases.

Kinkaede shakes his head but not before cupping Shujin's cheeks. Shujin couldn't help but fluster. Kinkaede proceeds to turn Shujin's head to the direction of the lake.

"See those swans over there. They'll look perfect in a shot. If I go they might leave when I get back. Can't risk that."

"Sigh, alright I concede, I'll get you something to eat." Shujin says.

"Thanks man."

"Yeah...whatever." A blush is spotted on Shujin. Damn. "Well, I might as well get something myself while I'm at it."

Before Kinkaede could react, Shujin already struts off.

Kinkaede shakes his head, smile still in place. "Asshole."

Unbeknownst to the men, two strangers were spying on them from afar. They hide in a bush, hoping to conceal themselves from the men. They watch as Shujin walks off.

"This is my chance!" the female says.

"Flamma, what the hell is this?"

"Anchor sit down! Do you want us to be notice?!"

Shaking his head, Anchor concedes and hides alongside Flamma. They've already collected much information on the residents of the Shizuku restaurant. Takahashi Ono, the founder of the restaurant 2 years ago , aged 66. Kagami Sugawara, 16 years old, granddaughter of Takahashi Ono and attends Venture Falls high school. Finally Shujin Akatsuki, not blood related to either of the two, 36 years old, Takahashi recruited him to work at his restaurant. That was all the information Anchor could find. The only other source was an interview from a year ago. The only useful info he retrieved from that interview was that Takahashi used to live in Venture falls in his youth. At least they knew a little bit more but it wasn't enough to act and Magor's been growing ever more impatient. Though it was by chance, Anchor did hear Commander Vestalt's report to Magor one night.

_'His powers are dwindling.'_

They don't have enough time before they'll lose the upper hand.

They needed some way to get close to the residents of Shizuku. Find out what they know then strike when the timing is right. So Flamma came up with this supposed 'brillant' plan.

_"I'm going to make Shujin fall in love with me!"_

Anchor couldn't help but laugh at Flamma's suggestion but here they are.

He pinches the brink of his nose before speaking up. "Flamma, we're wasting time. This isn't going to work."

"Nuh uh!" Flamma perches up. "I've been reading a ton of romance books lately. I've got this under the bag. Shujin wouldn't be able to resist my womanly charms!"

"And how are you going to do that?"

Flamma places both hands, now glamoured up , on Anchor's shoulders, gently rocking him back and forth. "Trust me! I've got this!" Flamma reaches out to the pile of books laid out beside her. She winks at Anchor before running off to Shujin. Anchor could only sigh.

Shujin continues to amble on, minding his business wondering were to find a snack for Kinkaede and himself.

 _'There must be a vending machine somewhere out here?'_ he wonders to himself.

Flamma finally catches up to him, mirroring his pace, hoping for him to notice her. Shujin doesn't bat an eye, still lost in thought.

Flamma scowls. Time for step 2. She purposefully trips, scattering her books all over the ground. Shujin saunters away, completely ignoring her. Flamma didn't want to do it but she had to move on to phase 3. Direct contact.

Shujin finally made his way to a vending machine. He inserts the coins in slowly, wanting to enjoy the moment before he has to be subjected to more photography nerd Kinkaede before heading back to work. Though this moment is short-lived as a hand slamming onto the machine, jolts him back to reality. Shujin stares at her in confusion.

"Uh..do you need something?"

Flamma cackles nervously having not planned what she's going to say. "Hahaha...it's just I never met a guy so handsome before!"

Shujin cocks his head and raises an eyebrow. "Huh?"

Flamma starts sweating profusely. Why is she so nervous? Improvise! Improvise! "Uh well..you see, you're that guy from that restaurant! Shizuku, right? I frequently go there and I've seen you a couple times and uh...it was a coincidence in meeting you here!" Shujin still keeps his confused expression in face, not helping Flamma's case of sudden nervousness. Still Flamma pursues. "I was just wondering if...you know...can I get your number?"

In an instant, Shujin realizes what is going on and it elicits a big yikes in his mind. "Uh..I'm sorry umm?"

"Flamma."

"Flamma."

 _'Shit!'_ Flamma curses in her mind. She should've went with a pseudo name!

"Um, if I'm getting this right you're hitting on me right now?"

Flamma could only nod her head in shame. Anchor was right, it was a stupid plan.

"Sorry but I'm gay."

Flamma stands there utterly speechless. "G-gay?"

Shujin just sighs as he continues to speak. "As in I'm only attracted to men."

Flamma proceeds to cackle out loud, startling Shujin and passbyers around. "That's fantastic! You see I made a bet with my friend! He'd be a perfect match for you!" Oh Anchor is so going to kill her for this.

Shujin sighs again. He'd rather be working than going through this shit. Curse his good looks! "Sorry but I'm engaged."

Flamma laughs again, nudging his chest. "Well I don't see the bride to be anywhere!"

"Now you see him." Somehow out of nowhere Kinkaede shows up, lacing his arm around Shujin, much to his dismay. "Why are you here?"

"You were taking too long...and the birds left so I got bored."

Flamma cackles nervous. Her plan tremendously wrong in the worst way possible. She could imagine Anchor right now losing his shit.

"Oh hehheehe...this is awkward."

"Yes, very , very awkward." Kinkaede couldn't help but comment.

Time to abort the ship.

"Uh I'm just gonna take my leave now." Before Flamma could escape, she feels somethings tuging at her bag. It's a dog.

"What the - "

Before Flamma could speak a random woman comes rushes over to the dog and pries it off her bag.

"Sorry I don't know what's come over him." The woman says as she tries to calm her dog down.

More dogs come rushing over to Flamma, either in hoards or singly all barking harshly at Flamma. It's as if they sensed some negative aura surrounding the woman.

Kinkaede and Shujin stare at the scene starstruck until they both (well mostly Shujin) decide to leave.

"Should I go back with my camera?" Kinkaede asks.

"No..just...forget this ever happened."

* * *

Kagami taps at the glass window of the bus. The girl honestly had no idea where the bus driver was heading, she just needed to get far away from the school. The bus was quite, only a few people were on, mostly adults given that students were still in school. In school, she should be there right now. Sayonara to her perfect attendance, not that it matters anymore.

The events a couple of hours were just...a massive headache. She still can't comprehend what had happened with Toby and outside when she burned her mother's letter.

Kagami doesn't believe in god (but given the current situation, there might as well be one) but she couldn't help but say a little pray, hoping that this was all a hyper realistic dream and she'd wake up already. But unfortunately , that'd never come. At least right now, in this peaceful moment in time, Kagami can take a breather and relax. She'd figure what to do with Toby and this sudden onset of fire powers later when she's more clear headed.

A few minutes goes by of tranquillity. Yet Kagami could feel a certain warmness stirring in her chest. It's...welcoming to say the least. Gradually, that warmness swells into a fire erupting within her chest.

Kagami senses the growing feeling is related to her powers, anxious at the thought of what's going to happen next.

_'Just a couple more minutes...just more time to relax before something crazy happens again.'_

Her body heats up, increases in body temperature. Eventually it wasn't just in her body, the bus itself seems hotter. But Kagami's heart stops when she pays attention to the other voices in the bus.

"Is it me or did it suddenly get super hot in here?"

"I swore it was freezing just a second ago!"

Kagami's heart picks up its pulse again, beating even faster than before.

"It's me."

Her head's spinning a million miles and her breath becomes rash and harsher. A tingling sensation is felt on her fingers and she turns to face them. She gasps at the sight. Her fingers stain red with hot sizzling energy, melting the window with her touch. Kagami's quick to release her hold, grasping her hands tightly to her chest to hide her coloured fingers.

_'I have to get out! I'm putting these people in danger!'_

So Kagami rushes to front of the bus, forging composure as she talks to the driver.

"Is it okay if you could stop here?" Kagami says, failing to hide the shakiness of her voice.

The driver nods his head, obliging to her request. Kagami bows before mouthing a 'thank you' and takes her leave.

The girl brisk walks, making sure to not bump into nor interact with anyone. She must get far away as possible then figure out how to stop her hands from burning. She needs help but who could she confide in out here on her own? Should she have gone back home to Oiji-san and Shujin?

Kagami doesn't exercise often, and brisk walking for so long should send her heart racing but it's slowing down. Her heart's beating way too slow for any normal human being to still be breathing.

"Itai!" A sudden jolt of pain surging from her chest stops Kagami dead on her tracks.

She places a hand on her chest, determined to keep walking. Yet the pain is too much.

It's as if her heart was trying to break free from the cage that is her body. Her ribs hurt, but Kagami still ambles, masking the pain.

The migraines threaten to return, and she feels lightheaded. She's going to pass out at any moment, fazing back and forth between consciousness and unconsciousness.

Before she could falter, the pain dispatches out of nowhere. She's enveloped with a different sensation and the burning soothes down.

Someone is calling out to her however it's not anyone she knows. It's difficult for her to comprehend.

It isn't a someone…no…it's different. She's being drawn towards something. Something important. Something that belongs to her. But what is it?

Kagami takes in her surrounds. It'd desolate and quiet. She's never been here before and she hopes she didn't stumble in the shady part of town. She looks to her righ and finds herself an old bookstore.

"It's there."

Whatever _'it'_ is that to her, calling her, it's in that bookstore.

Whatever she's about to do may be dangerous and she should just go home but whatever is in that bookstore, she could feel that it may have the answers to her new powers.

So Kagami pushes the door open with her wrists (the door was unlocked even though the closed sign was in place). She peeks through. There's nowhere there. Kagami proceeds in, scanning the environment for anything suspicious.

She searches the bookshelves. All the books look ancient, torn and worn down. Hesitate, she reaches for one book. She breathes a sigh of relief as it doesn't go up in flames with her touch. Her powers must've calmed down. Now confident she plucks the book off the shelf, opens it and she stares mystified by its contents.

"Another Gormiti book!" the girl squeals.

She presumed there would be other books, but she could never get her hands on them. As far as Kagami knew, her book was the only one in existence!

The girl flips through the book intrigued to find out different facts she had simply never guessed.

This was the happiest Kagami felt in a long time.

"Excuse me?" A voice rings out.

Kagami freezes like a small child caught stealing. She squeezes the book tightly to her chest and bends down to apologise.

"Sorry I knew the shop was closed but the door was unlocked and - "

The stranger chuckle and unveils himself from the shadows. It's a slime, 20-something with short chopped hair clothed in a shirt and tie. He pushed up his glasses before he speaks. "No worries, we don't have customers that often to any new face is welcome."

Kagami blushes at the compliment. So, this is an adult's charm.

"I see you've taken an interest in that book." The man shifts closer to Kagami, making her somewhat uncomfortable with the short distance, causing Kagami to the book.

"Sorry!"

They both scurry to pick up the book and their hands overlap. The once dormant energy resurges just for that instant, her fingers glowing as she burns away at the man's hand.

"Uck!" The man flicks her hand away, nursing his wound.

"Oh no!" Kagami panics. Why is this happening? She should've been more careful. Her powers are going out of control again.

The temperature rises and the glowing in her fingers won't stop. Her hands tremble with anxiety. _'No, no, no!'_

Kagami scoots away from the man, hiding her hands within her chest.

"Please stop! Why won't it stop!?"

"Are you okay miss?" the man asks, for some reason, he isn't fazed by her powers. He reaches out towards her.

"STOP!" she screams from the top of her lungs. "Please stay back!"

The man puts his hands up, "Don't worry, we can help you, you just need to calm down."

Why is he so unfazed? Her instincts told her not to trust this man, to run away but who else does she have left. He said he could help her and frankly she needed all the help she could get.

Once the man sees Kagami relax he steps closer, " Now if it's alright with you, can you show me your hands?"

Kagami does as she's told.

"Can you walk?"

Kagami nods her head, too drained to speak. The man signals to someone and another person, a woman shows up.

"Bring her to the back, I'll go get Vestalt." the man runs off the back of the store.

The woman hunches down to meet Kagami at eyeline. Her infectious smile somehow lifts Kagami's mood just a bit. "Don't worry, we'll take care of you."

Kagami smiles back to the woman, clearly forced but the woman doesn't seem shaken. After a long day of drama and craziness maybe this time, Kagami can finally have something go her way.

* * *

Cooped up in a secluded, dark room, Vestalt kneels before her leader. Magor stands there, foreboding as ever. He isn't physically present however his raging aura could still be felt.

"If you'd pardon me master, we've found the location of final piece of the orb. My team and I are in the mist of formulating a plan and gathering information. I request more time before our men begin to proceed."

"Preposterous!" chims up Obscurio, who's standing by Magor's side with Magmion at his left.

"2 years master! It's been 2 years since you've allowed this..this simpleton into our ranks and ruin the good name of this nation!" Obscurio's tone is embroiled with anger. "They've barely made any process. We can't keep laying low! We must bring forth our army before the other gormiti get the upper hand!"

"Master, I assure you, keeping out of the other nations radar is the best course of action!" Vestalt couldn't help 'unbecome' of her natural composed state around Obscurio.

Obscurio continues his rant, "Nonsense! Our men are growing sluggish. Even you Master, your strength is dwindling. If the lords of nature hear about this - "

"If we follow my plan they won't know until it is too late!"

"Your plans has gotten us nothing but stagnation! A wretched scoundrel like yourself has no place commanding our army! "

"ENOUGH!" Magor's roars startling Obsucrio and Magmion but Vestalt remains composed.

Magor pauses of second, considering both sides of the argument before booming his rich voice. "Vestalt."

Vestalt in turn bows to Magor, "Yes master."

"I'm giving you one month to complete your mission and return to Gorm. If you fail to deliver the orb in time, you'll be revoked of your status as commander. Do you understand?"

Vestalt nods her head. With that the image of Magor vanishes in flames.

Not a moment too soon, the door swings open revealing Anchor.

Anchor, I told you not to disturb me while I'm in this room." Vestalt scolds.

"Sorry, but we have urgent business to attend to with a guest."

Vestalt raises an eyebrow. Of course, they're a bookstore in disguise so customers going and leaving is a common occurrence but for Anchor to disobey her, it must be important.

* * *

The lady, apparently known as Flamma brings Kagami to a bedroom. Whoever slept here, whether it'd be Flamma, that man or this one person that could help her, they must've been a minimalist as the room is practically empty.

Kagami picks a corner of the room and flops onto the floor. She curls herself into a tight ball, making herself as small as possible. The growing chest pain returns, and the room is growing warmer by the second. Kagami didn't want to hurt Flamma so she tries to stay far away from her though the woman in question doesn't seem fazed by the heat or her strange powers.

The man enters the room, with an older woman in tow. "Here's the girl I was telling you about."

Flamma and the man step back to give the older woman space to do her magic.

Kagami expects the older woman to do some weird voodoo magic. Instead the lady perches herself atop of the bed, making herself comfortable.

"Tell me, why are you so afraid?"

That breaks Kagami out of her funk. "Huh?"

"You're afraid of yourself."

How is this going to help her?

"Why wouldn't I be? I have strange powers that burn anything I touch. I'm a hazard!" Kagami cries. She sinks her head to her kneels.

"I'm not talking about your powers."

Now she completely lost Kagami. The girl burrows her eyebrows in thought. She's afraid of herself? How?

The lady sensing Kagami's confusion approaches the girl unbeknownst to her. She lifts Kagami's chin up. The lady is completely unaffected by her powers.

"Your real self, your true feelings. They're trapped, hostile." The lady let's go of her touch and extends a hand. Within her palm is a faint spark. In mere seconds a blazing flame erupts from the spark.

Startled, Flamma attempts to speak from the door frame but Anchor stops her. "She knows what she's doing. Trust our Commander, Flamma."

"They're screaming, wanting to break free from the chains you placed them in."

Kagami was mesmerised by the scene. This old woman is the same as her.

_'To let my true self out..'_

"But that's what caused the problem in the first place!" Kagami cries.

This time, Anchor is the one startled. He'd never speak that way to his commander.

"If I never lashed out on Toby, if I'd never ran away! None of this would've happened!" Unable to contain it anymore, Kagami breaks down into a sobbing spree. Her chest is in excruciating pain. She just wants all this to stop. To be back home in her room, working on the assignment.

Vestalt unfazed speaks up, "If things went differently then maybe not today, but someday this would've happened." The flames in Vestalt's hand blooms brightly, consuming her entire hand. "To break free from your chains, to accept the burning flame in your heart. I understand why you'd be afraid. But once you break free - " The flame condense into a sphere before bursting out to reveal a small fairy made up of fire. It flies towards Kagami and gives her a kiss on the nose before disappearing to thin air. " - You'll find out what you found scary, wasn't that scary after all."

Kagami's tears still fall but she'd calm down. The pain recedes and her chest begins to feel lighter. Eventually, the intense heat that once plagued the room cools down, returning to its normal temperature.

Vestalt cups Kagami's cheeks, wiping away the tears from her eyes. "Don't be afraid of yourself. Embrace your powers." Vestalt brings her hands on Kagami's and clasps them together. "Let yourself go."

Kagami closes her eyes, focusing on Vestalt's words.

_'Embrace my powers. Don't be afraid.'_

Kagami won't contain her powers. She won't run away. She's done running. She'll accept them. Her powers, feeling and herself.

Her heart returns to its natural beat. Kagami opens her eyes to her hands, with Vestalt's hands gone, glowing with bright light. She releases her hands to reveal the same fairy Vestalt conjured. Kagami's eyes well up but she isn't sad. This fairy's warmth, it's different. It touched Kagami's heart and she couldn't help but smile.

The fairy places a giving hand on her thumb, as if telling Kagami she wasn't alone, before dispatching into the air.

Vestalt places a knowing hand on Kagami's shoulder. "You girl, have an incredible power."

Kagami nods her head. At first, she was afraid of her powers but now, she knows it must've been destiny. It led here to this bookstore, to these people and her dreams.

"Is it okay if I tell you something?"

"Go ahead my dear."

"I've been having these weird dreams lately and - ugh!" Kagami suddenly feels dizzy. Her body is unusually sluggish, like gravity is pushing down on her. She lost consciousness but luckily, it's only for a couple of seconds. When she opened her eyes, she's in Vestalt's arms, with the other two crowding around her.

"Right now, you need to go home and rest" Vestalt says. "Anchor, make sure you escort this young lady safely home."

"Yes Comma - mam." Anchor corrects himself.

Before Anchor could lead Kagami home, Vestalt rubs Kagami hand to gain her attention. "I'd think I'd be best if you didn't mention what happened today to anyone for the moment."

Kagami nods her head before leaving with Anchor.

Making sure Kagami is completely out of ears reach Vestalt closes the door gently. "That girl, she's Kagami Sugawara from Anchor's report."

"Hmhmm!" Flamma perks up. "Granddaughter of Takahashi Ono, owner of the Japanese Restaurant, Shinzuku!" Flamma proudly states, having done her research.

"Takahashi Ono..." Vestalt, clenches her fist, granting only herself a cunning grin, "Your granddaughter will become of good use to us."


	8. When the moon reaches out to the stars

"Toby, would you like to start from the beginning?"

After Kagami ran off to who knows where, Mr. O Brian brought Toby to his office. Frankly, recounting the events from a couple minutes ago isn't a great way to spend the morning in Toby's opinion. Nothing would change in the long run if he tells Mr. O Brian the whole truth. He'd still be the bad guy. In everyone's eyes, Kagami could do no wrong. So, Toby doesn't answer, fashioning his feet more interest than facing his teacher.

Waiting for the incoming lecture from the adult, to the boy's surprise, Mr. O Brian doesn't lash out on him. Instead, he clasps his hands together before conversing with him.

"Toby, I know the relationship between you and the school isn't on…. _ideal_ terms -"

Toby mentally scoffs at the comment. Like the numerous report cards and calls to his parents weren't a major giveaway. At least he hasn't been suspended yet, miraculously he had to include.

"But know that I'm not here to give out to you."

That garnered Toby's attention. He takes a quick glance at teacher only to discover him smiling right back at Toby.

Mr. O Brian stands from his desk, engrossed in the scenery outside his window. "You know, I was a rebel in my youth back in day." The older man chuckles to himself as the memories flood his mind. "I'd skip class on the daily, never submitted my homework on time and pulled a few pranks here and there."

Toby scorns at the idea. "You, a prankster?"

"Let's just say I had a few tricks up my sleeve."

"And you're telling me this why?" Toby couldn't help but ask.

At this, Mr. O Brian turns to face Toby, a stern look on his features. "Toby, not everyone is out to get you."

Toby's pouts like a small child being told what to do. "Yeah, right. Kagami hates me, Jessica wants nothing to do with me since she started dating Mark and Nick and Lucas abandoned me for Kagami!"

"I have no one!" Toby exclaims.

"That isn't exactly true." The teacher states, prompting a raised eyebrow from Toby.

"You have me."

Toby stares at the teacher somewhat bewildered but also grateful.

"You don't have to tell me what went on between you and Kagami." Mr O Brian walks by Toby's side, placing a reassuring hand on his back. "Just know I'm here for you when you need someone to talk too."

Toby couldn't help but smile back at the teacher. It's nice having an adult on his side for once.

"Hey, I have a great idea!" the history teacher snaps his fingers with an idea. He's eyes perks up as if he was a teen again.

"Why don't you go out and have yourself some fun? Being cooped up in school won't you any good now would it?"

Toby stares puzzled at his teacher. A trusted staff at the school, allowing him to cut class? Did Kagami's slap impair his hearing or is Mr. O Brian really the rebel he said he is?

"Sir, are you sure?" Toby probes still not believing the words coming out of this man's mouth.

"Don't worry about it. Let's just say you went home sick. Our secret." Mr O Brian winks at his pupil.

Toby takes a while to sink in what Mr. O Brian's saying. Given their conversation, Mr. O Brian proves he isn't like the other teachers, he truly cares about his students even the worse of them.

"Wow..uh.. thanks sir! I'll make it up to you someday!"

"There's no need Toby, just enjoy yourself for today."

Toby waves goodbye before leaving; a heavy weight lifted off his shoulders. At least he can spend the afternoon relaxing. Though he knows when the topic of today's drama will reach Nick's ear and Toby would have a mouthful to deal with when he returns home.

* * *

The cold October wind brushes past Toby's hair granting him a clear view of the salty sea waters. He wandered to the beach after Mr. O Brian had given him to go ahead to skip classes for the day. Initially, he intended to hit the arcade though after today's events he needed somewhere to clear his mind and the sea always tends to calm him down.

Toby ambles to the shoreline and breathes in the fresh sea salt in the air. Toby didn't know if it's because he's the lord of water or this was always the case, but the ocean always seems to relax him. He removes his shoes and sockets, desiring the touch of the waves and sands. They cool his feet, dousing him further into a relaxing state. Yet calmed by the ocean, he couldn't stop his mind from leaping to his argument with Kagami.

_"Do you think I like being in the student council? That I like being the perfect student?"_

_"I'm only doing this because my mother..."_

Those words rotate in his mind and they wouldn't leave no matter how hard he tried to think about something else. There is something special about Kagami, something she's hiding.

_"You will never understand what I've gone through to make it this far!"_

Toby messes his hair in frustration. "Why do girls have to be so complicated!"

Toby wonders if she's still somewhere in the school. Or did she run off home or to somewhere else? Would she really risk her perfect attendance over some stupid argument? Yet, she did appear upset, so upset she 'unbecame' of her nice student council persona and attacked him. And yeah, she struck him but Toby for some reason empathises for the girl.

Toby still can't fathom what the hell is going on but he could feel that Kagami's the same as him. Not being accepted by anyone. Would Toby have felt the same way if he was forced to become someone he's not just to appease his parents and stop being compared to Nick all the time? Did Kagami go through a similar situation, being compared to someone infinitely better than her, reminded every single day how inferior she is? He didn't know.

All he knows is the guilt plaguing his entire being for all those awful things he said to her. He has to make emends but he isn't going to slave himself away to get an A. No, he'd be there for her, a supportive friend she can rely on.

She wouldn't have to be alone anymore.

* * *

The evening grew chilly and not wanting to catch a cold Toby went home to rest for the day. He'll make up with Kagami tomorrow, that is if she shows up to school. Worst case scenario, she doesn't show up; then he'll have to take drastic measures. What will he do? Toby had no iota, but he'll work on it when he's had a dinner and his daily dose of gaming. His parents went off to a party and wouldn't arrive home till late.

Once he arrived home, he attempts to open to door but it's locked. He knocks on the door knowing full well that Nick should be home by now. No reply.

_'This isn't funny.'_

A bright red bag pack crossed Toby's line of sight. It's Kagami's. She must've left it back in that room when she ran off. But how did it get here? Is she at his home? Why would she be here unless Nick -

_Nick!_

Toby races to the front porch of the house. He collects some small pebbles from the walkway, aiming them at Nick's window of his bedroom. The window shields open, revealing Toby's one and only brother.

"Oh, I see you've made it back home dear brother of mine." Nick says with an eerie calmness to his voice.

Toby shouts back, "Nick, what is this?! Open up the door and let me in!"

Nick chuckles. What the hell is he planning? "Okay but first you gotta return Kagami her backpack. And apologise for making her cry and ruin her perfect attendance."

So, she did leave the school campus. Damn.

Toby should've known Nick would pull something like this. Though he is somewhat glad Nick wasn't present during the argument.

_"Do you think I like being in the student council? That I like being the perfect student?"_

Those words still ring through Toby's head. If Nick found out she said those things, he'd be heartbroken. He admires Kagami for being the so-called 'perfect student', would he still befriend her even if she isn't perfect? And Kagami, how would she feel if Nick completely dumps her for being a fake? Damn, how did Toby end up in all this drama? Regardless if Toby told Nick the truth, he wouldn't believe him. Just another excuse to get out of the assignment even with the evidence. Nick can be stubborn like that sometimes.

"Dude! I'm planning on apologising to her tomorrow at school, just let me in already!"

"Great then you can do it right now and get it over with." With that Nick slams his window shut, already making up his mind.

The freezing cold is getting to Toby and the brothers knew their parents wouldn't return home till late. Toby facepalms as he goes to retrieve Kagami's backpack. He hauls it over his shoulder with his own backpack in his hand. Time to visit the Sugawara household, hopefully she'll there or else Toby would've to spend the night outside.

* * *

Everyone knows that Kagami's grandfather is the owner of Shinzuku. Toby found it strange in a cool way that Kagami lived in the second floor of a restaurant. To think, a posh girl like herself would live somewhere so…modern. Though the entrance to the restaurant is at the front, the back is where you get to the apartment through a flight of stairs – Nick had told him once.

A nasty odour enters his nose and Toby resists the urge to barf. The trash from the restaurant is dumped in the back into large rectangular bins. It's obvious they can't leave it at the front but still? He didn't think Kagami would live in such a place. Whatever hygiene routine she has, it works wonders. She smells amazing, like a freshly baked bread loaf. Not that Toby spends his time sniffing girls or anything.

Toby rings the doorbell, somewhat anxious about whoever would answer the door? Toby realizes then and there that he didn't know much about Kagami. The most he heard is from Nick but even then, that there is so little to go by. She lives with her grandfather, but her parents are back in Japan. He wonders why that's the case.

The door unlocks and Toby stiffens. No turning back now. Out comes a 30-ish looking muscular man with wavy black hair and a goatee. He's wearing a low tank top, revealing his plethora of tattoos plastered on his muscular arms. The minute their eyes locked, Toby could already tell, he hated his guts.

"Who are you?" the man says with a thick, angry, Japanese accent. Now Shujin never liked high school boys. One, they are perverted little shits that only think with what's between their legs. When he saw this blond kid at his doorstep he knew he was there for Kagami. He didn't know his relation to Kagami, but he did know one thing. If he dares do anything to hurt her or physical harm her he wouldn't hesitant to sock the kid. He didn't care if he goes to jail if it meant Kagami is safe.

Toby couldn't control his beating heart. "I'm Toby, I was just wondering if Kagami's home?"

For some reason, mentioning Kagami pissed the guy off even more. "Why do you want to see Kagami? Are you her boyfriend or something?"

Toby's pretty sure he's ruined any opportunity in dating Kagami, not that he was interested in dating her in the first place. "No! We have an assignment together! She..forgot her bag back in school."

The man says some things Toby couldn't comprehend. It was probably in Japanese but with the sound of it, he doesn't sound so happy.

Shujin snatches the bag from Toby, surprising the boy. "Thank you for returning her bag. I'll make sure she gets it. Bye."

Signalling he's done with the conversation he reaches out the shut the door though something stops him. Toby's foot is peeking out from the man's view. Shujin sighs, opening the door for Toby once more.

"What is it kid?"

"Can I at least speak to Kagami? You know, about our assignment." This is the most nervous Toby has ever been. One wrong move and the man could easily punch him to next morning.

Shujin mumbles some more Japanese before conceding and letting Toby in. They walk up the flight of stairs in silence. Then it hit Toby. This is the first time he steps foot into Kagami's house. For some reason it feels…weird.

They reach another door. The man shuffles through his jeans about pulls out another key, unlocking this door in the process. They both enter the apartment. Toby's filled with a sense of cosiness. The inside is ten times better than the dumpster fire that is the front porch of Kagami's house.

"Kagami's in her room." Shujin states, pointing to a door on their right.

Toby thanks Shujin though before he could retreat to Kagami's room a large firm hand grabs his shoulder. Toby stiffens.

"If you try to do anything weird in there, I won't hesitate to kick you out kid." Shujin warns before retreating to his own room.

Toby could still feel Shujin's stare even after he shut the door to his room. He's sheer presence sends Toby's knees wobbling and he clings to a nearby table. If he found out he made Kagami cry…just the thought sends shivers up Toby's spine.

His knees return to normal with a few deep breathes and Toby proceeds to Kagami's room. He places a hand on the door handle, ready to open the door but something is stopping him. This is the first time he steps into a girl's room. Heck, he's never been to Jessica's room and they've been friends since forever! This is practically foreign territory to him.

Yet something else is bugging him. It's unusual but he is in fact nervous to talk to Kagami. Not cause of that other man (though he did play a part in his nervous. Once he detects something suspicious is going on, Toby's getting the boot.) Toby genuinely wants to make amends for what happened. Deep down, he wants Kagami to not hate him. Regardless, Toby musters the courage to open the door.

Low and behold, to his displeasure Kagami's fast asleep on her bed. She isn't even wearing her pyjamas.

What a huge bummer. He hyped himself up for this? He should've let the man take the bag and go home; lie to Nick and say everything went okay.

Anyways, Toby leaves the bag by her desk, taking a good look at her room. Her room is standard, neat and tidy, with a shelf of books, closet and her desk with her computer. Nothing out of ordinary, almost reminiscent of Nick's room. So there isn't really much of a difference between girls and guy's rooms after all.

Something struck out to Toby. An old hardcover book laying on her desk. For some reason he's drawn to that book and unable to contain his intrigued he picks it up. Toby fiddles with the book for a while, general curious as to why Kagami would have such an old, torn book, especially a book with no title. Curiosity got the better of Toby and he opens it. He lets out a gasp at it's contents. He couldn't believe it. A book about Gormiti. Why does Kagami have this book?

He scans through the book in its entirety, making sure he isn't dreaming out anything from that man knocking him out or something. He even pinched himself.

To that one incident at the mall, now this? Something's amiss in Venture Falls and Gorm. Toby's determined to find out what, even if he must do so on his own. So, he takes the book, stuffing it into his own bag before heading off.

* * *

Obscurio slams his fists into a nearby stalagmite, demolishing it in the process. He couldn't contain his seething rage for the low life that is Vestalt. Magor is his lord, and Obscurio swore to serve him for all eternity but to take orders from a mere foot soldier? His lord is asking for too much. Oh, but through the harsh insults he throws at Vestalt's way, he knows she isn't just any ordinary foot soldier. Her connection to _him_ is particularly worrisome. For Magor to invite Vestalt so quickly to his ranks and promote her to commander, there is no doubt in Obscurio's mind that Vestalt had ulterior motives.

"Obscurio please calm down. Our master can hear you!" calls out Magmion.

"Shut up Magmion! It doesn't matter anymore."

Vestalt had become Magor's favourite, casting Obscurio to the wayside. And to think, a mere foot soldier has taken his spot. Him, the lord of darkness himself. Obscurio isn't going to take this lightly. Whatever plan Vestalt had in motion, Obscurio is determined to stop Vestalt in her tracks. First, he'll start with one of her _experiments._

He cackles murderously to himself, "Magmion, I think I may have a plan."


	9. When the stars smile down at the moon

**"Where is it?"**

Kagami drops another shirt to the fattened pile of clothing. The girl had been searches ruthlessly for her missing gormiti book, wrecking her once tidy room. She's always left that book by her bedside and with its sudden disappearance left the girl uneasy. That book was her safe place, an escape from the hectic real world. Without it, Kagami wouldn't survive.

Growing more agitated by the second the girl gives up her search. If anyone knows where her book went, it had to be Oiji-san.

Kagami makes a beeline to her Oiji-san's room; knocking fiercely at his door. No answer. She thrusts her fists at the door, calling out to him. She didn't care if what she's doing is inappropriate. What matters most to her is having her precious book back in her arms.

Takahashi opens the door, revealing his hazy self. He's still half-asleep.

 **"Kagami-chan,"** he yawns **"you know I need my rest."**

**"Ugh, yes, I know Oiji-san but this is important! Have you seen my book?"**

**"Your book? But you have a many books. Just choose whatever."**

Kagami lightly japs Takahashi on his arm. She forgot basic conversation with her grandfather is the equivalent of suffering from a migraine. **"Oiji-san you know the one I'm talking about! The Gorm book! The one you gave to me!"**

Takahashi sticks his finger into his ear, wiping the dirt onto his robe. He clearly doesn't take this as seriously as Kagami. **"That one? Nope, I haven't seen it."**

Kagami sighs, **"Come on! You know how important that book is to me! Are you sure you didn't take it out my room or something?"**

Takahashi shakes his head.

Kagami rolls her eyes, slouching onto a nearby couch with her arms crossed. Her grandfather wasn't always like this. He's always been somewhat of a nutjob but he was at least more open and welcoming. Back in Kagami's youth, his visits were just a blast of joy. He was the only adult Kagami could confide in and in turn he'd tell her these amazing stories. Ever since she began living with him in Venture Falls, he grew more distant and cryptic. As if his restaurant or whatever he's doing in his spare time is more important than Kagami himself. Yet her moving to Venture Falls was his idea in the first place!

Takahashi, finally catching on to Kagami's turmoil. He seats himself beside her and pets her head like he uses to when she was 4. But it's not the same.

**"You know, Kagami-chan maybe it's time to let go of that book. "**

**"Let go?"** Kagami says, eyeing her grandfather in displeasure. He's seriously not suggesting what she thinks he is?

**"You've re-read that book countless times. I'm pretty sure you've remembered everything. You don't need it anymore."**

**"You can't be serious."** Kagami gets up from the couch, done with her conversation.

 **"Kagami-chan? Where are you going?"** her grandfather cries out. Kagami has never acted so rude before, startling him.

 **"I don't even know why I came to you in the first place!"** having enough of her grandfather's nonsense, Kagami slams her door shut.

Kagami sinks to the floor, her back against the door. How did he become such an insensitive old man! Now like all the rest of the adults, cold and hard to approach. She conjures up a small flame, the only relic that can ease her pain given her book is as good as gone. At least she has Vestalt and the other store owners by her side. Maybe her Oiji-san is right. With them, she wouldn't need her book anymore.

With newfound determination, Kagami picks herself up from the floor. Her room is in a mess and though she wasn't the goodie two shoes she was in the past, she never liked her room to be in such a state.

Back at the hallway, Takahashi could only look on dumbfounded. Is this what they call, 'puberty'?

He fights the urge to check up on Kagami instead retreating to his room. Confronting Kagami would just make her even more enraged.

 **"Besides, it's for the best she forgets about that book."** He mutters to himself before shutting the door.

* * *

Have any of you had a dream that seem to go on forever but then you wake up and it's only been two hours? That's how Kagami's week went by. So much had happened in such a short time span and Kagami couldn't really process the fact. However, there is one thing Kagami is 100% sure off. Since meeting Vestalt, her life pulled a 180.

The day after, Kagami's hit with a text from Toby of all people. The boy wrote such a long and thorough text, Kagami speculated Nick wrote it. However, her mind changed when she met Toby for the first time since their 'beef' as the student body puts it. He spent all afternoon looking for her and apologised profusely in person. He even wrote her a short sorry letter in Japanese (although barely comprehensible but the thought counts, even if it's evident he used Google translate.) Kagami didn't have the heart to not accept his apology. She too, said horrible things to him and slapped him.

"You can hit me for a second time if it makes you feel better?" The boy stands there, eyes glued together, prepared for another round of Kagami's demon-like slaps.

"What? No! Let's just call it even." The girl pleads. The first time Kagami was struck with so much emotion and let her feelings get out of hand. She couldn't go for a second round.

In Toby's case, he mentally prepared himself for anything. He had bandages in his backpack in case Kagami goes too wild as well. That day, Toby did the unspeakable and hurt Kagami so bad he ruined her perfect attendance. Kagami has some unfinished business from her past, and he resurface any emotional baggage like the idiot he is. A second slap is well deserved in his book.

However, that isn't the only reason. Whatever the connection is between Kagami and Gorm, he needs to find out. And to do that, he must make amends.

"Really?" Toby says in confusion.

"Yes!"

"So, you won't hit me?"

"No! Why would I? Not that I was right to do it in the first place…."

And their so called 'beef' ended. With the assignment deadline looming upon them, the pair stuck their heads together and got down to business. Heeding Vestalt's advice, Kagami told Toby she's willing to do the Eco-system since he studied so hard to catch up. Toby hesitated at first, but Kagami wasn't easily swayed. Once she made up her mind there is no changing it.

For the entirety of the week, those two were inseparable, which frankly weirded Kagami out at first. In between classes and nights at Shinzuku, Toby was her left-hand man. Toby in the way meant she couldn't go visit Vestalt as frequently as she would've like. The boy simply wouldn't leave her alone. Jessica approached her once to apologise as Toby stopped bothering her to pester Kagami.

Whenever she could sneak out of Toby's line of sight, Kagami would head to the bookstore. In her second visit she told Vestalt everything, about the recurring nightmares and what spurred her powers to action. In turn Vestalt told Kagami her side of the story. Her and her team were rogue lava gormiti from Gorm, part of a small resistance opposing the evil lord Magor. Magor's searching for the missing pieces of the orb, when one of his soldiers had found some pieces in a tower from an alternate dimension. Once the resistance caught wind of these, they immediately started their search for the orb, beating Magor to the punch. Now with only one final piece left, somewhere on earth, it was Vestalt's duty to find it.

Vestalt even trusted Kagami to show her the almost restored orb in person. They entered the secluded room in the lowest portion of the bookstore and Kagami's locked in a trance. Kagami couldn't explain it. There was a huge surge of energy and unable to contain it all she passed out.

"Ugh…what happened?" Kagami called out. She appeared to be in a bedroom, the same one she was in when she first met Vestalt.

"You passed out when Vestalt showed you the orb." Flamma states from the bedside. She sat by Kagami with a wet towel in her hand.

"There's no doubt about it." Vestalt says from the door frame, shocking both the girls. "With your dreams and today's event, you must have some sort of connection to the orb.

"Does this mean…" Flamma pauses, aligning the pieces to the puzzle. She gasps dropping the wet towel. She points to Kagami. "She can transform into a lava Gormiti?"

Kagami tries to hide her face with her hair, embarrassed at her self-excitement. Her, transform into a gormiti? She couldn't imagine it, yet she low-key wishes that is the case.

"There is a high possibility, but we won't know until we find that piece." Vestalt marches to Kagami's side and bows to her. "This may be asking for too much, but I'd like for you to cooperate with us on our mission."

Kagami didn't stutter in her answer.

Between working on the assignment, Vestalt would train Kagami on how to use her powers efficiently. In a short duration, Kagami learned so much from controlling fire to absorbing heat and blasting it out in a powerful attack. Keeping it a secret from her Oiji-san was hard. He too, seemed as invested as Kagami is in those gormiti stories. How would he react if she told him Gorm exists and gormiti are real; That she has the potential to transform into a gormiti herself? Maybe say 10 years ago he'd be ecstatic but now, she isn't so sure.

So that's how her week went.

* * *

The day before the presentations were due, Kagami and Toby were practically done even given their unfortunate circumstances. Though anxious Kagami was okay with ending their process there. She's confident that they did do their best.

The two rest in one of the sheltered rooms in the library. In fact, this is the same room where that unfortunate argument took place. Toby observes the girl packing her bag. For Kagami to accept his apology so quickly and cooperate with him, the cursed lazy bum of the Tripp household. Does she feel just as bad as he did for that argument.

_"Do you think I like being in the student council? That I like being the perfect student?"_

_"I'm only doing this because my mother..."_

Those words haunt him every day.

"Um…. Kagami?" the blonde calls out, somewhat nervous at Kagami's response to his idea. Though her kind, Venus-like expression as her hazel eyes lock onto his clears his mind of worry.

"Yes?"

"Let's go out have some fun! You know, like a celebration for our hard work!"

Regardless of her answer, Toby is determined on taking Kagami out. Being cooped up studying all day, frankly sucked ass and Toby knew Kagami feels the same. The blonde wanted to get to know the real Kagami, what better way to do just that by just having a little fun?

On the receiving end, Kagami's heart skips a beat. It seems like eons since someone asked her out to do something 'fun'. Between her friend group (which is pretty much just Nick and Jenny despite her popularity), they usually talk about student council activities, school activities or just general club stuff. This was a first for her, especially with a boy.

Toby didn't take no as an answer, so, like Cinderella heading off to the ball, he whisks her away to the mall.

Not having planned anything ahead of time, the blonde asks if there is anywhere particular, she craved to go. Surprising the teen in question, she mentions how she's never really had gone out anywhere with friends before. That prompts Toby to wipe out his phone, searching for something the pair could do to pass the time. During their discussion, Toby realizes how sheltered Kagami is. She's only been to the cinema twice and that was back in Japan, never rode a bike, or to a fast food restaurant in her life.

"My parents put me on a strict schedule," The girl explains on the train to wherever, Toby didn't really pay attention to where they were going. "violin lessons at 4, singing at 6, study till curfew at 9, no boyfriends, no phone, no TV-"

The girl keeps going on. Toby couldn't fathom what he is hearing. How did Kagami survive? Toby would've broken from the stress of it all. To think anyone at a young age had to live like that and to somewhat appear sane, Kagami had to be an extra-terrestrial being.

"And what about yourself?" the girl poses.

"Huh?"

"You've heard of my background, now it's your turn." Kagami didn't know why she told Toby all that. Deep down, she could trust the boy. Haven gotten to know him the past week, he isn't at all what she thought of him to be. There's something more to him, she could tell.

So, Toby divulges into his own backstory, though in his words, it wasn't as extraordinary as Kagami's. He did make sure to leave out saving the world a hundred times, a secret for him and his friends alone.

Eventually their mini conversation ended as they exited the train. Kagami did touch upon never bowling before in their discussion and Toby knows of a nearby bowling alley in the area so they went there first.

Watching Kagami's reaction once they entered the alley is somewhat of an intriguing feat to Toby. The girl's so lost, yet excited, raising many questions Toby's way. Like a small puppy, she eagerly awaits a snack from Toby and that snack is knowledge. The blonde couldn't contain his smirk. The smart know-it-all going to _him_ of all people for answers. Should be an event to write in the history books.

Despite all that, what made Toby's day is seeing the sparkle in Kagami's eyes as she misses the pins at each turn. He's never seen a girl so happy to lose before. She'd cheer Toby on whenever he hit the pins, which was always, prompting a flashback of the days when he'd gone bowling with his friends years ago. Him and Jessica would butt heads, betting either money or lunch if either won. Nick and Lucas would join in on their countless bets and in the end, Lucas would pay. Toby missed those days when the four of them would hang but for the first time in forever (pun intended) he didn't mind the four of them weren't together. He's having so much fun with Kagami and if he were to trade this for those past days, he wouldn't dare do it.

Afterwards they spent all afternoon at the arcade. Kagami clung to Toby timid given how there weren't that many girls in there, questioning whether she should've been in there in the first place. Regardless, Toby's with her and she trusts him enough he wouldn't bring her into some shady place.

The pair played a couple of rounds and Kagami's anxiety eased. Toby pwns her in all the games but Kagami didn't care. She finds losing a huge relief from performing at her peak and Toby didn't mind always winning.

"Let's try this one out!" Toby grabs Kagami's hand, directing her to one of the games.

"Here! Catch!" he lightly tosses a toy gun her way. Kagami successfully catches it though she stares at it in confusion. Toby notices her odd expression once done inserting the coins and ambles towards her.

"Is everything alright, Kagami?"

Said girl nods her head. "Hmm…just, I don't know how to use this thing."

Stating her case, the girl fumbles with the toy gun. Toby couldn't believe it. Is she _that_ sheltered that she doesn't know how to hold a gun? He hated to admit it but it's cute seeing her distressed.

"Don't worry, I got this." Toby heads to the screen and clicks some buttons. Kagami could only stare dumbfounded.

What happened next, Kagami wouldn't tell Shujin in fear of Toby's safety.

The boy rushes behind the girl. Her breath stops with the sensation of Toby's chest pressed onto her back. His hands encircle her body. Like a bee intoxicated on the smell of honey, his hands desire the touch of hers, wrapping his cold fingers around them like a soft blanket, meddling them together.

He corrects her hold of the toy gun.

"You ready?" his voice vibrates into her ears, sending shivers down her spine at the sheer proximity of his lips to her ear.

Everything afterwards is a complete haze to Kagami. Her mind melts at the soft rise and fall of his ribcage, warming her back ever so slightly. His hair caressing her cheek, his steady hot breath lulling her mind further to emptiness, his strong hold on her hands tinting her cheeks red, is this what it's like to go on a date?

Cause if it is, Kagami didn't want it to stop.

"Yo, earth to Kagami?" Toby waves his hands across Kagami's face, oblivious to what he's done to the poor girl.

"Huh?" Kagami snaps out of her trance, disappointed that Toby let go of her.

"Look we got the highest score!" Toby points at the monitor, highlighting the scoreboard.

_1# Kagami 22343578678_

"Why did you use my name?" Kagami asks.

"You kept losing at all the other games and I felt bad for you. At least here everyone will know you as the number one player at Skull Blaster!" Toby states proudly to himself.

Kagami frowns. "But I didn't do anything." Toby's name should be up there, not hers.

"Just think of it as a sorry present."

The girl sighs. Not this again. "Toby, I've told you a million times this week, I already forgive you!"

After a brief session of 'I'm sorry's for the something-th time the pair headed off to a fast food restaurant (Toby wanted to head to Shinzuku but Kagami insisted they head out to McDonalds). Kagami goggles with childlike wonder at the huge menu at McDonalds. There was so much the girl wanted to try but she senses Toby's poor wallet dying with the amount they've already spent. Kagami chose something small, a happy meal, as their dinner for the day. Toby couldn't judge the girl, she missed out on at a lot from her childhood, he can live with the embarrassment of purchasing a happy meal for himself at the age of 17. Watching Kagami's beaming smile as she digs into her burger and fries is totally worth it.

The night threatened to dim the evening so the two headed home, ending their fun trip for the day. They both need a good night's sleep for their presentation tomorrow. After they hopped off the train back, Toby graciously offers to walk Kagami home. They chat about the looming assignment whilst Kagami plays with her transformer toy she received from the happy meal.

"My heart is still pounding. I just want to get this done and over with." Kagami utters, placing a hand on her ever-beating heart.

"Don't worry about it Kagami! Our presentation's amazing! Ms Mc Guck will give us an A, I'm sure of it!" Toby pumps his fist into the air, eliciting a giggle from Kagami.

Kagami stops her giggling session, staring to the sky solemn in thought. Toby catches on to the mood swing. "Kagami…. Is everything okay?"

Today has been an absolute dream to Kagami. To finally live like a normal teenage, to experience a date with boy even if it wasn't technically a date. After all she's done to him, she thought he'd hate her but here they are now, him walking her home after a fun day in town. Can she trust him with her secret? Should she tell him about her mother? Her powers?

"Toby, to be honest I don't really care about what grade we get." Kagami proclaims head hanging low.

Toby stays silent, giving Kagami the time to formulate her thoughts. He understands it's hard for the girl to air out her dirty laundry.

"But my mom, she…if I don't -" Kagami chokes on her words. She's overridden with emotions, her feeling for her mother, her father and what he'd do to her if she doesn't perform to perfection like she always does. She's taken a major risk on this assignment and Kagami, she's scared of what tomorrow's outcome will be, knowing that A won't be printed on her report card.

A lump forms in her throat but Kagami doesn't try to hide it. She allows herself to cry, embarrassed for doing this in front of Toby. But to her shock, Toby pulls her into a hug, allowing her to cry on his shoulder for support.

"You don't have to say anything else, just know that you're not alone anymore."

That triggers Kagami to blubber. She'd have to apologise for wetting his jacket.

The pair didn't know how long they stayed like that but eventually they break their hug. They continue their walk in silence. Toby hand rest on her shoulder, pulling her closer to him. She rests her head on his shoulder, too fatigued after her crying spree.

Once they reach her home, Toby squeezes her hand, reminding her of what he said earlier. He releases his hold on her but Kagami isn't letting up. She lightly pulls him back, pleading for him no to go with the gesture. Emotions were high for Kagami but this isn't a repeat of last time. No, the girl wants Toby to stay, to hug her again, to console her. Nonetheless, he couldn't stay the night, not with Shujin and the plethora of rumours that'd get out.

Having received her feelings, Toby grants Kagami one of his brightest smiles. The moonlight reflects on his features, exemplifying his handsome face.

Their hands unlock, untangling their fingers one by one till only index fingers mingle. Hesitant to break the only touch she had on the boy, Kagami let's go. His scent still lingers on her body. Toby wishes her good night before leaving, blurring to a blue spec in her sight.

Kagami thought that if she had her mother's affection, then that's all she needs in life. However, the wheel of fate had led her here. These hidden desires that she casted aside bloom to life. Her mother's affection isn't enough. No, Kagami desired for much more, something her mother couldn't possibly obtain.


	10. Broken Brillance

After endless nights of enduring the same nightmare, Kagami wakes up from a dream that, for once, isn't centred around the orb. Her memory is still foggy, but she doesn't recall seeing Supreme Luminous or being trapped in a scorching hot desert. No, she believes Toby was there. The thought of the boy somehow appearing in her dreams sets her cheeks aflame and she snaps herself back to reality. Today Ms. McGuck is going to judge their assignment. Any pleasant residues from her dream are gone, replaced - as the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end - with panic.

The girl tries to calm herself with a mantra.

_'Everything is okay, Kagami. It'll work out in the end even if I don't get an A.'_

Out of habit, Kagami takes out her mini laptop from under her bed and plugs in her USB stick with her and Toby's assignment. She scans the contents, making sure of no mistakes. No doubt, they both put together a stellar presentation worthy of an A if any other teacher were grading their assignment. But it had to be Ms. McGuck. In her terms, if it isn't inhumanly spotless then it doesn't deserve a 100. They've taken a huge risk with doing the eco-system. They're practically in competition with the rest of the class that chose the same. Theirs had to be the best to get 100%. Kagami could tell from observing the teacher.

A knock on Kagami's door startles the teen out of her consciousness. It's Kinkaede.

"Sorry if I'm disturbing you but Shujin said you have a laptop I could use?" the older man voices.

Kagami nods her head. No use in worrying about the assignment now. Having given Kinkaede the laptop, Kagami heads on into the bathroom for a quick shower.

A cold shower should do the trick in easing her nerves, right?

Nope.

Kagami recites her speech, repeating any sentences she fumbled. Yet, she couldn't stop her hands from shaking. Her words came to a stop, body plagued with worry. Nervousness numbs her legs and she crashes to the surface of the bathtub. The _what if's_ swarm her mind. She doesn't get an A and her father hears of it, what next? He'd take it out on her mother or worse. Back to Japan for Kagami. Her whole being shakes at the mere thought of returning to that cold, soulless house in Japan. Finally, a taste of freedom, now gone with a blink of an eye. Kagami couldn't bear it.

_'Come on! Stop worrying!'_

At this rate, she's too overcome with anxiety to do the presentation. Kagami needed help and she knew exactly where to go. So, she rushes out of the shower, quickly changing to visit the bookstore.

"Oi, Kagami!" Kinkaede calls out to her.

"Hm?" the girl pipes up, struggling to put on her boots from the hallway.

"You left your USB stick in your laptop. It's by the counter in the living room."

Damn it! A major mistake right there.

She speeds to the counter. As Kinkaede said, there lies her laptop and two USB sticks, the other being Kinkaede's. She takes the one placed on the counter since Kinkaede's is plugged into the laptop. She thanks him before taking her leave.

* * *

A day at the bookstore as usual. Flamma at the counter, Vestalt's reporting to Magor and Anchor went out to do more research on Shinzuku. Flamma mentioned to him that with Kagami on their side they didn't need to do any research, but Anchor insisted they needed more.

Given some thought, Flamma could see his point. Their commander did lie to Kagami about them being the supposed good guys. Having Kagami as an ally is a major step up towards their goal but they're treading a fine line. Kagami is close to the lords of nature too, though she doesn't know their actual identities yet. All it takes is for those kids to divulge their secret to her and they're screwed. Not only that, but the man himself, Supreme Luminous from God-knows-where is attempting to contact the girl in her dreams. Flamma had to spend all night researching ancient spells to block the light gormiti. All this with an impending timestamp on their heads.

Maybe Flamma should've stayed back in Volcano Mountain.

...

...

...

Nope, never mind. Anything is better than staying at that place.

Speaking of the girl, their trump card barges into the store in an absolute panic. She grasps Flamma by the shoulders, mildly shaking her and ranting on about an assignment and anxiety. Flamma couldn't make out what she was saying.

Tired of the rambling, Flamma clasps the poor girl's cheek in a tight hold. "Now, start from the beginning." Kagami takes a deep breath before speaking. "Slowly," Flamma commands, not feeling up to another fast rant.

Kagami nods, now resembling a blowfish. Flamma lets go of her hold on the girl and Kagami tells her everything. How she's too anxious to do her presentation and she needs something to calm her nerves down.

Flamma snaps her fingers, an immediate solution popping into her head.

"Wait here." Flamma insists as she heads into her room. The 'dumpster' as Anchor calls it hosts a plethora of collectibles from Gorm. Flamma is the designated spell genius of the group and anything that could potentially assist them on their mission was a must have. Her room is practically a dumping ground for everything and anything Gorm related, with some human stuff in the side-line, whenever she wanted to experiment.

Flamma takes a couple of minutes before she finds exactly what Kagami needed to calm her nerves. She rushes back to the girl, presenting her with a small bottle filled with what seemed like tablets.

"Anchor uses these whenever he's feeling under the weather. Just take one for the day and you'll feel absolutely better!" Flamma pops open the bottle, handing Kagami one tablet.

Kagami knew it was stupid. Accepting a drug from a being from a mythical land. However, she and Vestalt have helped her tremendously for the past week. Flamma wouldn't try to poison her or anything. Kagami could tell that Flamma is being genuine

"Here." Flamma hands Kagami a glass of water.

The girl eyes the small tablet in her hand. It's not like she has any other options. So, she pops the pill down her throat and takes a huge gulp of the glass.

Instantly, her worries and anxiety wash over her. She feels more confident about the presentation.

"Thank you, Flamma! I feel better already!" Kagami bows to her senior before shaking her hand.

"Glad I could help!"

The girl exits the bookstore, waving goodbye to the adult. Though, Flamma's mind began to ponder. Those pills are meant for gormiti and given the small size of the girl, would the dosage be too much for Kagami? Flamma scratches her mind, putting all the pieces together before concluding.

"That'll mean it'll be extra effective!" Flamma cackles to herself.

Oh, she's such a genius.

* * *

Biology, the last class for the day with Ms. McGuck and tensions are high. Kemi broke out into an all-out sobbing fest and Miki, along with Justin and Chris, had to escort her out of the classroom. Even Abel himself, couldn't help but shed some tears, concealing his face from the rest of the student body.

"Abel we did our best. That's all that matters." Andrea tries consoling the boy.

"You don't get it! If I don't pass, my parents will flip!" Abel cries out to the girl.

The tension gets to Matt as he couldn't help but empathise for the rest of the class. His parents were chill when it came to grades. They understand that grades didn't mean anything in the long run, but others weren't as privileged as him.

Jessica sits by Gina's side alongside Nick. Lucas hasn't arrived to class yet, explaining to Gina that he had to run errands for his eco-group.

"Have you heard the rumours about Toby?" Gina chirps up, attempting to divert the attention away from their impending presentation.

Jessica rolls her eyes; Toby's always causing trouble in some shape or form. Whatever it was this time didn't interest her one bit.

But Nick, given that Toby is his brother, is intrigued none the less. "What did he do this time?"

"May told me Toby went on a date with Kagami yesterday!"

Cue record scratch.

Jessica feigns disinterest but the girl has to admit. She's perplexed. It wasn't far back when the two had a big argument, now they're a couple? Plus, Toby with a girlfriend? He's cute and all, but with his personality, no normal girl could stand him. Jessica had feelings for him at one point, but she isn't exactly normal with saving the world and all.

"It's just rumours, Gina. They probably went out to a library to work on the assignment." Nick scoffs. There's absolutely no way Kagami would settle for someone like Toby. Nick may be out of her league, but Toby? Those two were the complete opposite of each other. Toby wouldn't be able to stand Kagami for long enough to be able to date her.

"Nuh-uh! May said they went to the arcade! They were all huddled up together!"

Jessica's eyes shoot wide open. Toby isn't the romantic type. He wouldn't touch a girl like that even if he liked her.

Jessica places a hand on her chest. It hurt for some reason, but she couldn't pinpoint why. Wait, is she jealous? Jessica mentally scoffs to herself. She has a boyfriend and Toby's allowed to date whoever he wants. She doesn't own him. Nonetheless, her heart sunk at the thought of Toby being…. intimate with someone else. It's a disgusting thought since she isn't single anymore but she wished he would've embraced her first, back when she still had a crush on him and not with another girl who 'apparently' struck him, as the rumours went.

Nick cackles out loud, breaking Jessica free from her thoughts. "Gina, I'll need to see some cold hard evidence to believe anything you just said."

Lo and behold, the couple in discussion amble into the classroom, chatting amicably. Nick rushes up to the girl, breaking her conversation with Toby. They chat for a bit about the assignment and student council stuff but Nick, with curiosity burning through his veins, doesn't ask about her supposed 'date' she had with Toby. He never believed in rumours unless there was evidence to back them up, but he's scared of the possibility of her confirming the rumours. His vision of a goddess, Kagami, going out with his clown of a brother, Toby. The thought hurts like spikes piercing his chest. His Kagami would _never_ fall for someone like Toby.

Ms. McGuck shows her witch-like appearance to the class, raising the tension higher. Nick silences his thoughts. His entire focus should be on the presentation. Luckily, Lucas makes it back to class on time. If he arrived late, Ms. McGuck would use that as an excuse to give him a demerit.

The presentations went off without a hitch. Nick and Jessica were up first, their presentation on fungi, not surprising to everyone else. Nick does like his fungi. Both were glad they went first; their minds were elsewhere and getting the presentation done and over with is a blessing.

Ike and Matt were up next and of course, they completely screwed it over. But they did uplift the mood a little bit by making their presentation at least somewhat humorous. A couple more students went ahead. Given Ms. McGuck's expression, a majority got C's with only one F for Ike and Matt's presentation.

Finally, the duo everyone awaited were up. Kagami and Toby. Everyone expected Kagami to freak out but surprisingly, the girl was calm. Too calm for Nick's liking. Usually, whenever Kagami had to recite a speech, the girl would be rehearsing to the last second. Throughout the presentations, she just sat there, staring off to who knows where.

 _'Just what the hell did Toby do?'_ Nick had to question.

The duo head to the podium at the front of the class. Toby couldn't help but sense something is wrong with Kagami. She seemed sluggish in her steps.

Toby hands their report to Ms. McGuck then heads to the computer to plug in the USB stick and ready the slides. They decided Kagami should give out the actual presentation, though both worked on the script.

When Toby went to look for the file, he froze on the spot. The file wasn't anywhere on the USB stick, instead all there was is a folder called Kinkaede's pictures. Kagami must've brought the wrong USB stick!

_'Shit!'_

The boy signals to Kagami to come over to the computer. Quiet chatter started ringing amongst the class. Nick bit his lip, knowing that something isn't right.

"What is it?" the girl whispers.

"Uh, Kagami, don't freak out but you brought the wrong USB stick. Our presentation isn't in here." Toby waits for chaos to ensue. For Kagami to flip out and have an anxiety attack or pass out from disbelief. None of that happens. Instead, Kagami stares at the boy, she seems almost out of it. Like she wasn't really there. Her pupils were dilated, and Toby worried she might've taken something to ease her anxiety.

"That's fine. We'll just improvise."

Toby's all about improvising but at that moment, Toby feels like it's a bad idea. Should he tell Ms. McGuck Kagami's high on whatever she took? What if it's something serious or illegal? He already ruined her perfect attendance; he didn't want to get her expelled for illegal drug use. Kagami looks stable enough to give the speech. Afterwards, he'd bring her to the nurse then check up on her to make sure she's okay.

"An ecosystem is a community of living organisms that interact with non-living components of their environment. There are many different eco-systems in our earth-"

Kagami winks at Toby as if saying she's got this under control.

That eases Toby somewhat and, preparing for the worst, he projects the first slide to this Kinkaede guy's photo album. Thankfully, he took photos of the environment, so it was somewhat related to their presentation.

Still, that doesn't stop everyone from gasping in disbelief. This is Kagami, she'd never have something so... bland.

Kagami continues with the speech, altering the script to fit whatever is presented on the board. Toby could see, from the corner of his eye, Ms. McGuck's displeased expression. Docked marks for terrible slides, for sure. Hopefully, they can salvage marks with their speech. Their presentation should be 3 minutes long and so far, Kagami has made it one minute in without screwing up.

Kagami's words become more slurred and Toby senses she is finding it difficult to speak.

"The ffwenture fwalls eco-system iz an ezzample of an w-woodland e-echo-system-"

The class continues their chatter at their utter shock at Kagami's state. Ms. McGuck had to tell them to 'shut up' or she'd dock 5% off everyone's grade. That ruined Kagami's flow as she forgets pieces of her speech.

 _'Just 2 more minutes, Kagami! Hang on for 2 more minutes!'_ Toby pleads in his mind.

Though Kagami tried to fight the sleepiness, she just couldn't.

"O-oak treez are uh the m-most do-dominant...um.…type? type of tree in f-fv-venture falls su-supporting..um..supporting…supporting… 何これ (what is this?)"

Nick took off his glasses to facepalm. This is literal torture. Never in a million years did he ever think he'd see Kagami mess up a speech.

Kagami tries to remember the rest of her speech, but the words just smudge together like ink on paper. The worst part was that Kagami doesn't care that she forgot, she's just so tired, tired of thinking so much. So she stops trying to recall the words, allowing her mind to go blank.

She falters in her steps, but Toby rushes out from behind the computer desk, stabilizing her.

"To…by. You -"

"I'll do the rest, just go back and work on the slides," Toby whispers to the lost girl.

Kagami nods, losing the will to speak.

"What she means is..uh they support…all the living things! Not all of them but you know, the insects!"

Toby continues from there. He remembers some bits of the speech here and there but for the most part, the boy's utterly lost; going off from the top of his head from whatever he learned from the textbook. Kagami's better at improvising than he is. Eventually, the slides came to a halt as Kagami falls asleep on the desk. Now Toby had to control the slides and recite his made-up script.

"That's enough Toby." Ms. McGuck calls from her seat. She didn't even give him time to finish. "Celeste Wion and Jake Harrington, you're up next."

That was Toby's cue to leave. He wakes the sleeping girl, glad she's in fact sleeping and not passed out. The girl's completely out of it, not realizing how much they botched their presentation. They'd be lucky if they pass. Toby leads the girl back to her seat, knowing she couldn't tell up from down. Once she reaches her desk, she promptly falls back to her slumber.

Toby returns to his seat, unable to concentrate on the other presentations. How would he explain all of this to Kagami? That conversation is one Toby wants to avoid but he knew it was inevitable.

He spots Nick. His brother stares right back at him before diverting his attention back to the board. Eventually, Toby receives a note from Justin seated behind him.

_Meet me by the lockers after class. We need to talk._

_Nick_

Toby scrunches up the paper tossing it to the ground when Ms. McGuck wasn't looking. He lightly bangs his head on his desk.

_'Why me?'_

* * *

Still in class, after everyone left for the day, Kagami continued to sleep. Gina and Jessica stayed by her side, waiting for her to awaken.

"Uh huh, don't worry, I'll be there in a second. Love you too, bye!" Jessica hangs up her phone.

"Mark?" Gina asks with a raised eyebrow.

Jessica nods. "He has a dance rehearsal and he wants me to watch." Jessica sighs. Of course, she wants to be there for Kagami when she finds out about the inevitable but her boyfriend comes first. Leaving Gina alone with her is a big no too. Kagami's sure to break down and having two people there for her is a hell of a lot better than just one in Jessica's book.

"Don't worry, Jess. I'll be okay on my own." Gina eases Jessica's worries.

"You sure?"

Speaking of the devil, Kagami begrudgingly opens her eyes. She lets out a huge yawn, stretching out her muscles from a pleasant rest. "What the? Where is everyone?" Everything hits Kagami like a ton of bricks, remembering the events of last period.

_'Oh, no….'_

She turns to Gina who has a solemn look in her eyes. "What happened during the presentations?"

Both Jessica and Gina were hesitant on giving an answer, neither desiring to be the bearer of bad news.

"It went well right? Toby and I did okay..didn't we?" Kagami's voice shook with worry. The slides...she mistakenly brought Kinkaede's USB stick. Then she fumbled her words halfway through her speech. Everything afterwards was a blur.

Gina hugs the girl, knowing it would be hard for her to digest what occurred. Though confused, Kagami accepts the offer, understanding the weight of the situation.

Jessica, deciding that hiding the truth wouldn't help much, spills the beans. "You fell asleep halfway through. Toby took over and-"

"Oh…" Kagami couldn't form a sentence. So she wouldn't be getting an A then.

Kagami broke the hug, eyeing the floor instead.

Gina spoke up, "Kagami, just so you know, grades don't mean - "

"No, Gina, I'm fine. I'll be okay." Kagami cuts the girl off, genuinely smiling. Kagami didn't know if it's the effects of the drug but hearing the news didn't bother the girl much. Instead, she's glad.

Kagami stands up from her seat. "Do you know where Toby is?"

Jessica grimaces, "About that…"

* * *

A harsh slam erupts from the hallways, causing the remaining students to search for the source of the sound. Nick slams his locker, leaving a dent in its place. The boy doesn't care. He's angry, furious at his brother for that...horrendous display back in class. Kagami…her perfect score, ruined in a blink of an eye. There's no way she would get her A.

"Woah, Nick, calm down!" Lucas calls from the boy's side.

"I've told you…" Nick starts, "I've told you a hundred times to make sure that presentation was amazing!"

"What –" Nick questions his brother, not even trying to hide the utter vile in his voice. "- What the hell was that?"

Toby doesn't say a word. He knows whatever he says, it won't sway his brother. Nick's pissed and Toby just has to endure it for a while longer.

"It's just like you, Toby! You never take anything seriously!" Nick continues to rant on at his brother.

Lucas comes between the brothers, worried that Nick's current state may make him do something reckless. However, Nick's having none of it. Kagami's fallen from her pedestal, her legacy tarnished thanks to Toby. He couldn't let that stand.

"Damn it!" the bespectacled teen curses out loud. He should've done more. Watched Toby like a hawk, asked him about the assignment, guided him. Pleaded more to Ms. McGuck to switch partners, anything! He failed Kagami and it led to this.

Nick desires perfection but he can't reach it no matter how hard he tries. Out of nowhere, like an angel descending from the sky, Kagami appears and does the impossible. She's his goddess, the second reincarnation of Jesus Christ himself and Nick's a devoted atheist! He didn't care if he isn't perfect anymore because Kagami…. she was there to do it for him. And Toby ruined that.

Nonetheless, what makes Nick's veins pop out at any moment in rage is how nonchalant Toby is. He doesn't answer him, giving him the silent treatment. As if he doesn't care that he's destroyed everything Kagami worked towards.

Catching Lucas off-guard, Nick strides to Toby, pinning him to the lockers. "Answer me, goddamnit!"

Toby avoids eye contact. He, too, is angry, having to endure a lecture from his little brother. Nick doesn't know the full story, how much Kagami suffers to get the perfect grades. In fact, he doesn't know the real Kagami like Toby does. The curious girl that just wants to have fun. Oh, how he wishes to lash out at his brother for being as dense as Lucas when it comes to romance, not realising how much pain Kagami is in, given how creepily obsessed he is with her. Yet nothing came out of his mouth in respect for the girl. It's her choice and hers alone to confess her secret to Nick.

"Toby!" Kagami yells from the end of the hallway. Gina and Jessica had tuned her in on Toby's whereabouts. Apparently, Nick blames him for the disaster that was their presentation and Kagami had sprung out of her seat to look for the boy.

As soon as she sees Nick pinning Toby to the lockers, she could feel her powers stirring within her in resentment. This has nothing to do with him - why does he have to stick his nose into everything surrounding her? But, no, Kagami takes a step back to calm down. She shouldn't use her powers but, nonetheless, she's still angry.

"Leave him alone, Nick!" the girl cuts in between the two brothers, pushing Nick away from his brother, shocking the teen in the process.

"Are you okay?" Kagami asks the blonde. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"

In response, Toby does his casual dumb smile alleviating Kagami's concern.

Nick tries to interject but Kagami was having none of it. "Uh, Kagami, sorry about what happened back in class. I know you worked hard - "

"Yes. I know." Kagami spits, making sure it's loud and clear how angry she is. She diverts her attention back to Toby. "Hey, can I talk to you in private?"

"Yeah, sure." Toby obliges and the two of them excuse themselves.

Nick could only stare in disbelief as if losing the will to live. Kagami, never had she addressed Nick like that before. She should be warm, calm, welcoming, polite. What was this? She had to be angry at what happened, and she's just taking out on him. Yet, that doesn't explain why she's so nice to Toby. Is it because she still feels bad about their argument? Yes, that must be it! Those rumours can't be true!

"Nick?" Lucas voices. He hasn't said a thing since Toby and Kagami left.

A light bulb switches on in Nick's head with an idea. He grabs Lucas' wrist dragging him in the direction Kagami and Toby are headed.

"Whoa, Nick! Where are we going?"

"After them!" Nick answers. He left Kagami alone once with Toby and it led to this disaster. He won't do that a second time. That way, things can stay the way they used to be when Kagami would smile whenever she saw him.

* * *

Kagami leads Toby out into the school gardens. She scans the entire area, searching for a nice secluded place to chat. Spotting a nice bench, covered by the withering leaves from the large branches of a tree, she tugs Toby in that direction.

Both seat themselves, catching their thoughts before discussing whatever Kagami had in her mind. Toby had an inkling of what she had to say - anyone would given what had happened that afternoon.

"So, what did you wanna talk about?" Toby probes first, knowing that someone had to incite the conversation.

"About that presentation…" Kagami fiddles with her skirt, avoiding eye contact, too nervous to formulate her thoughts. The girl finally makes eye contact.

"I feel bad. Not because we did a poor job - uh, not you, though, you did great! - I just, uh, I didn't do. How do I put this?"

It's a serious topic but Toby has to admit, Kagami's super cute right now. Like a lost puppy. The girl rambles on, talking complete nonsense and Toby could tell the girl's brain is about to explode with a major overload. Did she even stop to take a breath?

"Kagami." The boy grabs both her shoulders, halting her mumbled rant. "Deep breaths."

Toby instructs her on some dumb breathing steps his dad always talks about. He heard they help with anxiety attacks and right now, Kagami's a whole bundle of anxiety.

He lets go of the girl having done their mini breathing session. "Now you can speak."

Kagami relaxes her shoulders, her mind clearer with Toby's help. "Thank you. It's just... I feel like I let you down."

Toby bursts out in laughter. Once he's done, he peers at the dumbfounded Kagami. Oh, the poor girl. It makes sense to him that she'd be confused. "Kagami, there's absolutely no way you could let me down."

"But you worked so hard! You deserve a better grade! An A even!"

Toby chuckles again. Him getting an A? A lot of craziness has happened in the past week but that? Nuh-uh, without Kagami (100% sane, mind you) that's practically impossible.

"I'm the king of flaking! Grades don't matter to me!" Toby states proudly. A title he holds dear to himself.

"But -"

"No buts, end of discussion." Toby winks at the girl. Her cheeks burn red and she covers her face with her long dark-purple hair, concealing her embarrassment from Toby.

"Anyways, um, this might be a weird question and you don't have to do it if you want to!" Toby probes, waving his hands amicably. Now, it's his turn to get nervous.

Kagami raises an eyebrow, perplexed. Though, inside she's excited. She doesn't mind if Toby wants to do anything...weird with her. She's open to new experiences after yesterday's fun trip at the mall. Just the thought makes her cheeks bright red so she diverts her attention.

"Can I um…see your face…for a second? I need to confirm something."

She gives Toby the go ahead.

Toby scoots closer, closing the gap between their thighs. He leans in close and Kagami mentally had to tell her heart to stop beating so loudly. She diverts her eyes away from his face, unable to stand his liquid blue eyes focusing on her features.

"Uh, can you look at me? I want… to see your eyes."

Kagami's thankful they were seated, her legs would've collapsed beneath her otherwise, turning into jelly. Her body turns hot, almost like a spark erupting inside. A soft, sweet, delicious adrenaline rush.

She obliges, clearing her hair away from her face, showing her burnt up cheeks. Her eyes meeting his. To her surprise, Toby was blushing too, given the proximity of their faces.

They were once like this, heated in anger at the library. Now, they were both all too aware of how close they were. If he just leaned in a little closer, he'd be kissing her.

Him kissing her. Just the thought sends a weird sensation down there for Kagami. She hopes Toby doesn't notice. She wouldn't mind…if he did the deed.

"Okay," Toby confirms to himself, distancing himself from the girl.

Kagami's mind goes into autopilot, reaching out to Toby to pull him back in. Though, she stops herself midway. No, she couldn't. She didn't want to scare him off. Luckily, Toby didn't notice.

"Sorry, I just needed to confirm something."

"No worries. I didn't mind." Kagami says, hiding the disappointment in her voice.

"I just needed to confirm something," Toby states again, scooting further away from her, still self-conscious over how close they were.

"If you don't mind me asking." Kagami states, "but to confirm what?"

Toby knows this would be a hard topic to discuss. Toby is a delinquent in his own words but he isn't a total bad boy. He doesn't smoke, drink nor has he touched an illegal drug in his life. He may be an idiot, rash even, but he wasn't a total idiot. He knows when things get too far and when to stop.

"It's just, back in class…" Toby states, giving a stern look to the girl. He doesn't want to lecture her, he's been on the receiving end plenty of times himself and he knows how shitty it feels. But this was concerning her safety and, though Kagami doesn't want to be _Miss Perfect Student_ anymore, he doesn't want her to go down the bad girl road and start abusing drugs."You..your eyes. They...they were dilated."

That stops Kagami's heartbeat for a split second. Inside, her body screams at her to divert the subject, to avoid any personal info reaching his ears. But in her heart, Kagami wants to trust Toby.

Toby continues "Back in class, you seemed out of it. I don't want to lecture you or anything but.." Toby doesn't want to have this conversation, but he has to be sure. "Did you take anything?"

Kagami sighs. There's no use in hiding this from him. "Yes."

Toby immediately bombards her with questions.

"What did you take?"

"I…don't know."

"How many?"

"Just one."

"What time?"

"Before school? Maybe around 9?"

"Where did you get them?"

"…."

That prompts Toby to violently shake her shoulders. "Seriously, Kagami! Where did you get them?"

"I..can't say." Kagami peeps. She couldn't tell him about the bookstore or Vestalt. It must remain secret. And besides, the whole mission is dangerous. She doesn't want Toby involved.

"Don't tell me they're illegal?!"

"What? No! Hey!"

Toby grabs her hand, pulling her away from the bench.

"Where are you taking me?"

"To the nurse."

Kagami stops Toby in his tracks. "Look, I'm fine now. You don't need to take me to the nurse."

Toby crosses his arm. Is this what it's like for his parents whenever they give out to him? Damn, how the tables have turned. "Just tell me one thing. Why did you take 'em?"

Kagami sighs again. It's not like she's ashamed of telling Toby her reasons. "I was really anxious. My hands were shaking, and I was panicking and I-I didn't think I could give my speech in that state. I was desperate and did something stupid." Kagami bows her head. Taking those pills from Flamma was a bad idea. Kagami shouldn't be messing with Gorm stuff. Maybe she should've waited for Vestalt's approval. "I'm sorry, Toby."

"Woah, calm down!" Toby bends down to meet Kagami at eye level. Though he's mad at what she's done, he could tell she felt bad. He didn't want to be like Nick and the other adults. To berate her; beat her up and make her feel like an idiot. So he smiled.

"It's okay, Kagami. But you should've come to me first. You know I'm here for you."

"Yes, I know. I'm just really stupid and -"

"Hey! Don't call yourself that. You're far from stupid."

"Yeah. I'm the smartest girl in the school. Top grades all around. Of course, I'm not stupid." The girl says with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"I'm not talking about that."

Now Kagami's confused. "What..do you mean?"

Toby doesn't really have an answer in mind. He just says what he felt. "The girl that hates studying but does it anyway. Who's super fun to hang out with and sucks at bowling and video games. Who cares about others and can be kinda crazy sometimes."

Kagami chuckles. "You think I'm crazy?"

"I mean it in a good way!"

Kagami breaks out in laughter. She doesn't know why she found it funny. How did what he said have any relevance to her not being stupid? She has no iota. However, she's glad Toby thinks of her in that way. For someone to see her as something other than the ideal student.

"Still, I think you should see the nurse." Toby couldn't help but bring down the mood.

"No, really, I'm fine!"

"You sure?"

Kagami nods her head.

"I really think you should tell somebody."

Kagami clasps her hands together as if she's praying. She's doing a great impression of a lost puppy. Toby could already tell what this is about.

"You don't want me to tell anybody."

"Please?"

Toby concedes. "But on one condition! You have to call me at 7. I want to make sure you're alright."

"Oh, thank you! Thank you, Toby! "Kagami hugs Toby, glad he'd keep her secret. If Oiji-san or Shujin found out, she wouldn't be able to see Vestalt anymore.

"If you don't call me, I'm heading over to your place!"

Kagami lets go of Toby, skipping away from him before turning back, feeling her inner playful side emerging. "Maybe I won't call you then." She winks at the boy before leaving him.

Toby gawks at her, astonished.

* * *

Nick, Lucas and Gina, who joined the group later, tail the duo to the school gardens. The trio hide behind a bush, a short distance from the bench where Kagami and Toby are seated.

"Gina, you have sharp ears, can you hear what they're saying?" Nick asks.

"I may have good ears but I'm not a superhero, Nick."

Nick sighs. Somehow Toby had replaced him. Nick should be out there with Kagami, not Toby. He knows he's jealous of his brother but it's well deserved. Toby didn't care about Kagami, but Nick? He's always there for her. Why would she want to speak to Toby in private? The world-shattering question Nick's dying to find out.

"Should we really be spying on them? Kagami did say she wanted to talk to him in private." Lucas points out behind the two.

Nick shushes him, invested in what the duo were discussing.

"Hey, look!" Gina calls out.

At that moment, Nick could feel his heart physically break into two. Toby leans in closer to Kagami, as if about to kiss her.

"Screw this," Done hiding, Nick gets up ready to confront the two. Lucas and Gina restrain him to the ground.

"Nick, what the hell are you doing!? Do you wanna blow our cover?!" Gina says, her arms chaining Nick's right arm to the ground.

"What do you think I'm doing? I'm putting a stop to whatever Toby's pulling!" Nick struggles to get out of their grasp. There is no way Nick is letting Toby lay his filthy hands on Kagami. No way, he'd rather die than let that happen.

"Bro, you need to calm down, it's not a big deal," Lucas whispers from Nick's left. Nick's making such a ruckus, they'll end up getting caught. He couldn't fathom why Nick is so upset over Toby leaning closer to Kagami.

"Yeah, he's moving away from her now. You can relax." Gina says, losing the strength to contain Nick. Maybe she should've done judo with Jessica after all.

"Fine. Fine. I'm calm."

Nick stops struggling and the trio returns to their spying session. Toby doesn't make a move on Kagami but eventually, the girl hugs the boy and winks at him.

"See, I told you so!" Gina states to Nick, pointing at Toby's direction. "You wanted cold hard evidence. There's your evidence."

Nick couldn't control the shaking of his fists. He refused to believe the rumours. That hug had to have meant something else. Nick's sure of it. Things had to go back to the way they were before Ms. McGuck decided to pair those two together. Toby would stop hanging around Kagami and spout more rubbish about how Gorm's in trouble. Pester Jessica some more and pull pranks on him and Lucas.

If those two did indeed have feelings for each other, then Nick would have to split them apart. It's for the best. Kagami's better off not surrounding herself with someone like Toby. She's too good for him and all he'd do is bring her down.

* * *

Kagami hopped on the bus to Vestalt's place. There was something she had to tell her. Back in class, Kagami screwed up big time and there was no way the news wouldn't reach her parents' ears. Though the decision she concluded with was hard and it'd hurt everyone else, Kagami's adamant on her stance. This is what would make her the happiest and she knows everyone else: Shujin, Toby, Oiji-san, they all wanted Kagami to be happy.

She exits the bus, making a beeline to the bookstore.

"Vestalt?" the girl says opening the door to the store. There, Anchor, Flamma and their leader were stacking books, probably about to close shop for the day.

"Yes, what is it, dear?"

Kagami sighs, nervous as if what she's about to say would end the world. It's now or never. "Afterwards, when we find the last piece of the orb…" Kagami struggles with her words but she knows that, in her heart, this is what she wants. "If it's possible… can I go to Gorm with you guys?"

Vestalt smiles, already affirming her answer.

* * *

A/N: Another fairly long chapter to close this arc if you'd call it that. This whole arc is pretty much a prologue of some sort, think of the first part of Kingdom Hearts 2 for any of you KH fans. From here on out we'll be going full throttle on the plot so fasten your seat belts.

Another big announcement: This hack writer finally found a beta reader! Finalfanaticgorm will be helping me out on this monster of a fic as my beta. She has some other awesome fics under her beat so ya'll should check them out.

See ya'll next week.


	11. Angels with Dirty Faces

"So, how do I look?" Jessica asks, having come out of her bathroom, fitted in her white tassel spaghetti straps crop top with a matching tassel miniskirt. She twirls around, showing off her outfit to her friends seated on her bed. In turn, her friends holler and whistle in awe at the girl.

"Holy shit! Jess, you look absolutely stunning!" May rushes to the girl, needing to see Jessica's outfit up close.

"Yeah, Mark won't be able to take his eyes off you!" Gina had to comment as she continues to work on her makeup.

Today was the big day. With weeks of planning, their night out at the Echo night club is finally upon them. The girls had all headed to Jessica's place to get ready. Cyrus' older brother would be driving them.

"Let me do your hair, Jess!" Serena calls, having plugged in her curling iron.

"Thanks, Serena but I'm thinking of just letting my hair down for tonight." With that Jessica removes her hair go-go, allowing her medium length blonde locks to fall to her shoulders.

"So, you're keeping it simple, huh? Me likey." Serena questions, having a sly grin on her features.

The girls proceed to get ready. Jessica heads into her separate closet, searching for her white high heels. May helps Gina with her hair and Serena places the finishing touches on her make-up.

"Guess who's gonna get fucked up tonight?" Serena says, having finished applying her lip gloss.

"Serena! You promised!" Jessica perks up from her closet. The last house party they went to, Serena got incredibly drunk. Jessica had to mother her for the entire night. Not exactly a great way to spend a party.

"But Jess…"

"No, Serena," Jessica, having found her heels, fits them onto her feet. "You promised you'd watch your drinks this time." Jessica strides to her full body mirror, checking out how her heels would look with her outfit. "Besides, you don't need to drink yourself silly to have a fun time."

Jessica's never drank even a sip of alcohol and she'd like to keep that way till she's legal. Though she's a party girl by heart, she isn't a total airhead. While her friends enjoy the sensation of numbing their brains with drinks, it simply wasn't for her. Frankly, she'd like to remember how her night went. At least Mark and Gina share her sentiment.

"Fine. But on one condition!"

Jessica rolls her eyes. Serena always has some wacky plan up her sleeve.

"You gotta give me the deets when you sneak out with Mark tonight!"

Jessica does her best impression of a lost seal. The other girls laugh at the display, prompting Jessica to cross her arms. These girls are as bad as Toby when it comes to her relationship with Mark.

"Girl, don't play dumb. We all know you're gonna go out somewhere with Mark for a little make-out sesh." Gina pushes, making kissy faces with May.

Jessica facepalms. She can't wait till one of them ends up in a relationship. They'll understand what it's like. Unfortunately, for Jessica, the teasing doesn't end there.

"Little? Nah, I think they'll go wild tonight!" Serena prompts, triggering the laughing.

Jessica, having heard enough, ignores them, fancying some make-up instead. But Serena's not done. "May's parents are out this weekend, Jessica. You know, if you and Mark wanna take it to the next level – HEY! "

Jessica hurls one of her pillows at Serena, hitting her face. "Shut up! It's not like that!" Sure, she and Mark like to get a little intimate here and there, but their relationship isn't physical. They both generally like to be around each other. If Mark was only in it to get into her pants, she would've known by now and dumped his ass ages ago.

Jessica stops applying her make-up, mind ridden with thoughts of Toby and Kagami. Those two, how would their relationship pan out? Would it be like her and Mark's or would it be more physical? Would Toby be attracted to Kagami in that way?

"Okay, okay. Sorry, Jess. We'll stop the teasing." Serena apologises, having seen how upset Jessica was back there.

"No, it's fine. Let's have fun tonight." Jessica forces a smile, ridding her mind of those thoughts from mere seconds ago.

"At least let me do your make-up!" Serena rushes to Jessica, not taking a no for an answer, already applying the foundation. Jessica's eyes land on the box hiding by her closet door. That prompts a flashback of her, Toby, Nick and Lucas from around 4 years back. She didn't party that much back in those days. Gina would invite her to house parties and Jessica would decline, stating she'd have something planned with the boys.

"Hey, eyes up here! I need to do your eye shadow." Serena says, directing Jessica's eyes away from her box towards Serena's face.

Jessica shouldn't dwell on the past. She's gonna have an awesome night with her girls right here. And hey, maybe while she's at it, have a make-out session with her boyfriend. She really needs it given these thoughts in her head.

* * *

Kagami sits by the steps, lost in thought. Ever since she's told Vestalt her plans on going to Gorm with them, things have taken a turn for the worst. The girl realizes just how serious the situation she's put herself in.

_The girl was brought in what looked like a meeting room of some sort. Anchor pulled out a map of Venture Falls, rolling it out onto the round table. Flamma returned from her room with a pendulum._

_"Are you sure, commander?" Flamma voiced, still uneasy over letting Kagami completely in on their mission._

_"She has to know, Flamma. It's only fair."_

_Kagami's palms felt sweaty with anticipation. She could tell Vestalt right there and then that she changed her mind. That she wanted nothing to do with their mission out of fear. Vestalt wouldn't mind, Kagami knew. But she stood her ground. She was going to see this through the end._

_Flamma swung the pendulum, chanting something in a language Kagami never heard before. The pendulum glowed a faint red. Flamma dangled the pendulum above the map and immediately it stopped swinging, pointing at a particular section of the map. Kagami scooted closer, trying to get a better perspective of where the crystal's pointing. She gasped._

_It's her home. The pendulum was pointing to Shinzuku._

_"What is this?" Kagami questioned. Was this some sort of joke to them? No, Vestalt wouldn't joke around. It wasn't in her nature. But how?_

_"It is what it is. The final piece is in your home." Vestalt stated. She knew Kagami must have mixed feelings over the whole ordeal, but this was the only way they can proceed in their mission. "I need you to cooperate with us, Kagami. Do you have any idea where the piece may be?"_

That's what brought Kagami here. Though she didn't want to tell Vestalt, and the woman in question didn't pressure Kagami to say anything, Kagami did have some sort of idea where it'd be. So, she observed Oiji-san like a hawk.

At first, it was merely by accident. She woke up in the middle of the night again the next day. It was just a hypothesis at that point but she wondered if her Oiji-san would sneak out again like the first time she caught him. She went out to the kitchen and hid by the cupboards. Like last time, he snuck out again. And the next day and the day after that.

Now Kagami's put in a weird predicament. Her Oiji-san is acting strange and given what Vestalt showed her there was no doubt about it. Oiji-san is hiding the piece. But where?

And that's what led Kagami to this Friday by the steps. She's going to tail her grandfather and find out where the piece is stored. But Kagami's heart sunk at the thought. Her Oiji-san hiding all this from her. Plus, she didn't know if he was on Vestalt's side or Magor's. Or worse, he had no clue that he had a crucial object in the first place.

But something else tugged on Kagami's heart. Toby. She'd have to leave Toby if she found the orb. That hurt Kagami the most out of everything. It took Kagami a while, but she knew now, it's undeniable she has a crush on him. She at least wanted to confess her feelings to him before she left, whether he rejects her or accepts her doesn't matter. Maybe she should write him a letter.

Kagami shakes her head. She needs to focus. As she's about to sneak into the kitchen, the kitchen door opens hitting her on the head.

 **"Kusou! Kagami are you okay!"** Shujin rushes to Kagami, hoping she doesn't have a concussion or anything.

 **"Yes, I'm fine,"** Kagami says, nursing her head. Doesn't seem like she has a bump.

Shujin helps Kagami stand. **" What are you doing here? Wait, are you looking for that old geezer too?"**

Kagami nods her head. Shujin always calls her grandfather an 'old bastard' or an 'old geezer' but heck Kagami might be doing the same if she too had to spend more than one hour with the man.

**"Great! He's at the basement. Could you tell him to get his ass over here? It's getting busy and we need all the help we can get!"**

**"Hai!"**

**"Oh and Kagami?"**

**"Yes?"**

**"I'll be at Kinkaede's tonight. You'll be okay with Oiji-san by yourself?"**

Kagami nods in reply.

Shujin went back to work and Kagami heads to the basement. Another checkpoint to mark. Oiji-san always tends to flake. Either by skipping work hours or at home in general. Definitely suspicious.

Kagami reaches the basement. Boxes, more boxes and the freezer room. No Oiji-san though. Kagami has only been to the basement once since moving to Venture Falls and she recalls how uneasy she felt back then. Though she doesn't feel uneasy now, she does feel something. It was a similar feeling. Like a surge of energy but faint.

Kagami gasps. The piece to the orb. It's here.

The girl places a hand on her chest, closing her eyes. It's stupid and probably won't work but she tries to listen to the piece. Vestalt had mentioned she had a connection to the orb. It was the orb that led her to that bookstore. If that's the case, she must be connected to the piece. The piece should draw Kagami towards it.

Going with her instinct she closes her eyes and began walking. Letting the piece guide her towards it. As if having its own heart, she heard it beating. Each step closer, the beating would get louder, pounding at her ears still silence. She hit a dead end. A wall.

She could feel it, the piece, it's behind that wall! But how could she get through? Kagami slaps the bricks on the wall, hoping to find some sort of secret opening. But nothing happened.

She kicks the wall in frustration. This was stupid. Her instincts must've been wrong. Vestalt had to be wrong. Her Oiji-san may be crazy but all of this. It's too much. That is until a lock could be heard.

_'Hide!'_

The girl rushes to a pack of boxes, almost slipping on a wet patch on the floor. She makes sure to have a clear view of the wall. A section of the wall sinks back into itself before collapsing to the floor revealing a passageway. Oiji-san emerges from the wall and Kagami held in her gasp. He looked different, more solemn and serious.

"No new updates as usual." He says as he makes his way upstairs.

Updates? What does he mean by updates?

Kagami didn't have time to ponder as the passage closes before her eyes. The girl makes a mad dash to the hidden passage. Right as it's about to close, Kagami trips on her feet, falling right through the gate, then darkness. Generating a flame to light the path, she cautiously treads forward. A set of traps? A passage to Gorm? Or something entirely foreign? Kagami doesn't know what to expect.

Proceeding forward, the girl could make out some other source of light from the other end. She quickens her pace, wanting to get this done and over with, unable to withstand the anticipation. What she found at the other end though, she'd never fathom in her entire existence why Oiji-san would hide.

* * *

Flamma sat hunched over by the doorway of Vestalt's study. It's been a couple of days since Kagami first told them of her plans of returning to Gorm with them once they retrieved the final piece. Vestalt agreed for her to do so.

After Kagami left, Vestalt immediately heads to that place. Anchor, as usual, didn't dare disagree with their commander but Flamma, the supposed dumb one, couldn't help but jitter.

"Seriously, am I the only one who thinks this is a really, really bad idea?" Flamma couldn't help but comment. "We, well the commander, did lie to her about us being the supposed good guys."

"Flamma! Don't question the Commander!" Anchor scolds. He may be smarter than her but at least she's an independent thinker.

But Anchor knows Flamma has a point. In Kagami's eyes, they are fighting against Magor, not alongside him. The minute they reach Gorm the lie will be staring at the girl dead in the face and what she'll do next – nobody knows. Given her powers and connection to the orb, along with Magor's sudden decline in strength, there was no doubt about it.

Kagami is a Lord of Nature – the new Lord of the Volcano.

They needed her on their side no matter what, since Vestalt's heading there of all places, she also knows how important it is. Vestalt stops on her tracks as they approach a securely locked door with all different kinds of lock mechanisms. It's the door to the basement. She signals to the both of them to help remove the locks.

"No, Anchor, Flamma's right. This is a bad idea." Vestalt huffs having struggled to remove a rather heavy lock. She may have retained some of her powers as a Gormiti but in this meek form, she was rather weak. "That's why we need Kagami on our side permanently."

Flamma gives Anchor a puzzled look, not understanding what Vestalt's insinuating.

Anchor sighs, "She means we have to brainwash the girl!"

"Oh."

Now that makes sense. Except, it doesn't. "If we need to brainwash her then we could just use Firespitter! Or Cyclops or cast a spell on the orb-" Flamma continues to rattle on with potential ideas.

"Those won't do, Flamma," Vestalt says having removed the final lock from the door. She opens it, revealing nothing but darkness.

Flamma still doesn't understand what Vestalt's planning. "But, commander! You can't use the book! You know what happen -"

"Flamma, I said those won't do," Vestalt says, unusually stern. She conjures up a flame, using it as a makeshift light source before proceeding down a staircase.

Anchor gives Flamma a look before following his leader. Flamma shrugs her shoulders before chasing after the two, not wanting to be left behind. Whatever Vestalt's planning, Flamma didn't enjoy it one bit.

The group made it far below the surface before Vestalt finally explains to Flamma her plan. "Those other solutions you suggested; they can easily be undone."

The group encounter another door, again filled with locks. Vestalt was always the cautious type. At least this time there weren't as many. "For every curse Magor casts, there is also an antidote."

Vestalt fiddles with a lock pad, inserting the code to finally open the door. "So we'll need a curse that doesn't have an antidote. Or at least, one that hasn't been discovered yet."

They enter a small room. Anchor and Flamma have never been in here before, but they could feel it's energy. The room was desolate, with nothing in place except a book contained in a glass case on the wall. The book was designed with gold embroidery, fattened to the brim with a plethora of pages. However, what spooked both Anchor and Flamma was the single eye at the centre of the cover, staring at them as if expecting them to arrive.

It was the book of Tartarus.

"Commander, are you sure?" Anchor voices, for once questioning his Commander.

Vestalt grasps her fists, remembering the events of the last time she used the book. "I wouldn't be here if I wasn't sure, Anchor."

Over the past week, Vestalt has taken a liking to Kagami. The girl reminded Vestalt of herself, back when she was just like the regular goons at Volcano Mountain, before being sucked into the depths of Tartarus. Using the book herself, though dangerous, won't have last longing consequences, Vestalt had hoped. Every time she used it, she would lose a piece of herself, of who she is. But what if Kagami used the book? Would she be strong enough to withstand the curse or would she turn into a monster like the others? She didn't want to put Kagami in danger, but the mission comes first.

"You two, keep running things as normal. I'll stay here and find something that'll work."

Flamma was about to question the Commander but the door was already shut, locked from the inside.

Four days have passed since then. The only time Vestalt emerged from that place was when Kagami showed up. Other than that, they hardly saw their commander.

Flamma could only stay by the counter. She could feel it. Whatever was about to happen to in the coming days, Flamma had to prepare herself.

* * *

"Haha! I won again!"

"That's not fair! You gotta be cheating somehow!"

In the depths of Volcano Mountain, a bunch of fire gormiti huddle together for their daily match of Tic tac toe. Though supposedly their jobs were to guard the gate, where the unfortunate ones subjected to the curse of Tartarus were held. No one was allowed in or out. But since nothing spectacular has happened since Vestalt left for Earth, the fire gormiti grew bored of their tasks, finding time to mess around or play games when the higher uppers weren't watching.

"Hey, do you think when Vestalt comes back we'll have to go back to fighting?" one guard spoke up in between a match.

"That's if she returns. For all we know, they defected like Lavor." Another answers.

"Maybe we should defect too, you know if Vestalt does return. We were lucky she didn't choose us to open the portal to earth. I don't want to turn into a monster like the others." The frightened gormiti recalls those events like it happened yesterday. Talking to his comrades as normal and the next thing, his brethren are faceless, mouth-eating monsters devoid of conscious thought. To wander the Gorm as a crazed beast – it's the worst fate imaginable.

"Stop worrying so much! It's been two years! Vestalt isn't coming back."

The guards return to their game while, unbeknownst to them, a shadowy figure approaches the gate. The figure lightly chips away at the lock, remembering the strict instructions he was given. Make it look like an accident – that the lock was worn down from prolonged use.

Having found the lock somewhat worn, the figure moved on to step two. Lure whatever is in there out. The figure pulls out a light crystal. Opening the door ever so slightly, he tosses the crystal inside the room before promptly closing the door shut. He looks back at the group of fire gormiti.

_'This has to be the easiest job I've ever done.'_

Camouflaging itself to fit the texture of the walls, the figure escapes, a little disappointed that he couldn't stay to witness the events about to occur. It's part of the job, so he couldn't complain much.

"I'm telling you! He has to be cheating!" one fire gormiti voiced after another round of their game.

"Nah, I'm just that good. You need to take some notes from your superior."

"Since when did you become my superior?!"

"Guys, that's enough." A different fire gormiti speaks up. They've spent enough time fiddling around. "We should go back to work. Armeggedon could show up any second now."

The rest of the group frown, none of them wanting to go back to their mundane tasks. However, before they could disperse, a loud booming sound is heard from inside the gate. The group freeze up, fearful of the worst-case scenario.

"I told you we shouldn't have slacked off!" one worrisome fire gormiti quakes out. He'd warn his comrades time and time again that something like this would happen, but nobody would listen to him.

A harsh slam vibrates through the room, almost knocking the group of gormiti off their feet. Another immediately follows and another with some gormiti falling to their feet. They all eye each-other, the same thought pounding through their heads.

_'They're trying to escape.'_

Rushing to the gate, as if their lives depended on it which frankly they did, the guards attempt to hold back the door, stopping the monsters from escaping.

"Someone go get help!"

"But if the higher-ups hear about this - "

Not having time to finish his sentence, the gates swing open, the sheer force dismantling the gates from the walls. A hoard of five monstrous entities, the size of elephants run rampant. Their squeals piercing the ears of the unfortunate few who didn't cover their ears.

After the entirety of the residents of Volcano Mountain went through a major panic catching the rogue monsters, the news did eventually reach Lord Magor. And the fiery lord didn't take the news so lightly.

"YOU IMBECILES!" Magor spat raising the lava surrounding him to almighty heights in a heated rage. "I ASK OF YOU TO DO ONE SIMPLE TASK! HOW DARE YOU MAKE A MOCKERY OF ME!"

Well, technically, he didn't ask – Vestalt did, Obscurio had to point out in his head. While Armeggedon quakes in fear, Obscurio stood in place. He already predicted his Lord's reaction.

"B-but sir. We've caught all but one of those 'shades' as she calls them." Armeggedon pipes up.

That information doesn't do anything to ease the lord's anger. "And where is this beast?" Magor says, quelling his rage. He shouldn't use up so much of his remaining energy on worthless underlings.

Armeggedon hesitates to give his answer, knowing it goes against his master's orders. "I'm sorry to say but it left Volcano Mountain and is currently heading to the earth nation."

"INCOMPETENT, WORTHLESS BEINGS! DO YOU NOT SEE HOW THIS WILL EFFECT MY PLANS?!"

 _Vestalt's_ _plan,_ Obscurio corrects again. That vixen has had his lord under her fingers for far too long. Pouring nonsense into his head. Their men could've captured all five if they haven't been slacking around thanks to her. But no more. This time, Lord Magor would listen to him, the supreme lord of darkness. "Lord, if I may speak, I believe it may be a good idea to allow the beast to run wild in the earth nation."

"What rubbish are you on about, Obscurio? I order your men to capture that beast and my decision is final!"

"But Lord, how long can we accept Vestalt's words? It's been two years of stagnation, of complete nothingness!" Armeggedon tries shutting Obscurio up, not wanting to anger Magor any further but Obscurio isn't letting up. This was his only chance to sway Magor away from Vestalt's grasp and he's not letting that go cause of fear. "Our soldiers have grown weak since the lords of nature retrieved their orbs but those monsters – they can be our salvation!"

Magor's lava calms down – He's intrigued by Obscurio's words.

"Vestalt wishes to hide in the shadows and observe! We overpower our enemies, showing the true strength of our nation! Vestalt has hidden these creatures for far too long in fear. If they're truly as dangerous as she deems them to be, then we should attack! Use them to conquer the Gorm! Then the Earth!"

Obscurio gets on his knees and hands, dishing away his pride for a second. He will not let Vestalt win this time. No, this is his time for Magor to listen to him.

"Please, master."

Magor pauses, considering Obscurio's speech. "Vestalt has taken too long in retrieving the piece of the orb. I'll consider this a warning signal to her."

Obscurio couldn't contain his smirk. Finally, the vixen has been dethroned.

"The lords of nature will undoubtedly hear of this beast terrorising the earthlands. Armeggedon, prepare a party to scout the earth nation. We'll consider this a test run of this monster's ability. You're both dismissed." Magor sinks to his pool of lava, already using up his energy and needing to rest.

Obscurio made a mental note to be there when the news inevitably reaches Vestalt. This was only part one of getting rid of Vestalt and her lackeys. Once he gets that book, Vestalt would be reduced to nothing but a speck of dust.

* * *

A/N: Another new chapter this week. For the next few chapters it'll be a bit more plot orientated. I know it's kinda a weird switch from what you all are used to but what I'm going for this fic will mostly resemble season 1 more than the other seasons in terms of there's a lot going on in earth and in the characters personal lives - probably even more so then in season 1 so if you're into the whole romance and teenage drama stuff don't worry - there will be plenty of that to come.

Thanks to my beta finalfanaticgorm for helping out.

See ya'll hopefully next week.


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